Troops drop 4-1 decision to Kingston on 'home' ice (the Sudbury Arena)

The North Bay Battalion find themselves down 2-1 in their best of seven series with the Kingston Frontenacs after a 4-1 loss on “home” ice in Sudbury Tuesday evening.

I write “home” ice as such because Memorial Gardens is still in the process of being transformed back into a hockey arena after the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship took up residency for a week in an event that saw curling fever hit North Bay.

Game 1 of the series saw the Troops defeat the Fronts 5-2, while game 2 was a 4-3 setback for the Battalion. Game 3 saw a promising start for North Bay in front of 1,145 spectators, which was a mixed bag of Battalion faithful, family and friends, Frontenacs fans and Sudbury Wolves fans looking to boo either teams.

The first period ended without a score, although North Bay had the decided edge in momentum heading into the second period. The second frame could not have been more different, however. After two quick penalties were called against Luke Burghardt and Jesse Saban, Jason Robertson gave the lead to Kingston on the 5 on 3 power play. Before the second penalty could expire, Gabe Vilardi would give them a 2-0 lead.

Much of the second period became a dump and chase period for both teams, however, in the final minute of the second, Vilardi would net his second of the game and postseason, with the Frontenacs up 3-0 heading into the third.

In the first minute of the third period, Jake Henderson gave the North Bay fans something to cheer about, and the Battalion something to rally around, as a sneaky backhanded shot found the back of the net of goalie Jeremy Helvig to see North Bay on the board, but trailing 3-1.

Minutes later, Robertson scored his second to sap any momentum the Troops hoped to gain and effectively ended the game with a 4-1 score.

“I thought it was pretty even, the scoring chances and everything until they got the two powerplay goals.” Head Coach Stan Butler noted after the game.

“I think this is a learning curve,” he replied after being asked about the experience levels on his young team. “But with Riley Bruce, it’s his fifth year here and he’s been to the OHL final and Conference finals, and he’s our captain and I think he can help the guys. Tomorrow we need to regroup and realize it’s the first team to four, not the first team to two or three.”

The Troops look to rebound in Game four on Thursday night at Memorial Gardens. You can buy tickets at the Battalion Box Office, listen live on Country 600 CKAT or watch on YourTV North Bay. Game time is 7 p.m.