Sudburian, Olympic hockey gold medallist and TSN sportscaster Tessa Bonhomme dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff between the North Bay Battalion and the Sudbury Wolves Feb. 1 in celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The Troops came out on top both in the shots department 34-23 and on the scoreboard 5-1 in the latest chapter of the storied northern rivalry.
A strong showing by Battalion goalie Dom DiVincentiis was a huge factor in the win for the Battalion.
Dalyn Wakely scored early in the first period for North Bay to give the Battalion a 1-0 lead just 2:23 into the contest. Three minutes later Jacob Therrien gave the boys in green and white some insurance with his fourth of the season.
Edmonton Oilers prospect Matvey Petrov scored 2:27 into the second period to pad North Bay's lead 3-0. Wakely scored his second marker of the night with 33 seconds remaining in the second period to give the Troops a 4-0 lead, only for that lead to be cut to three with a goal from Wolves' forward Ethan Larmand 14 seconds later.
Kyle Jackson netted North Bay's fifth goal of the night at the 11:14 mark of the third period to seal the victory for the Battalion.
The Wolves now have a record of 18-21-4-2, which is good for eighth in the Eastern Conference, while North Bay is second in the OHL's Eastern Conference with a record of 33-12-1-1.
The hometown Wolves have a weekend at home starting with a tilt against the Mississauga Steelheads on Friday, Feb. 3 7:05 p.m. and on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 5, at 2:05 p.m. against the Barrie Colts.