Steelheads tie up series

NORTH BAY, Ont. — Charlie Callaghan scored on the power play at 9:50 of the third period, lifting the Mississauga Steelheads to a 4-3 Ontario Hockey League victory Sunday over the North Bay Battalion for a split of the first two games of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

James Hardie had two goals and one assist and Angus MacDonell the other goal for Mississauga, which got 23 saves from goaltender Ryan Leenders before a crowd of 3,305.

Callaghan also had an assist for Mississauga, which plays host to the next two games of the best-of-seven series Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Nikita Tarasevich, Kyle McDonald and Pasquale Zito scored for North Bay, while goaltender Dom DiVincentiis provided 40 saves in a gallant performance. The host Battalion, which finished second in the conference, defeated seventh-place Mississauga 5-1 Friday night in the series opener.

“It’s not a bad thing to be humbled in the playoffs, not at all,” said coach Ryan Oulahen, whose Troops finished the regular season on an 11-game winning streak, not having lost since an 8-2 setback Feb. 26 to the host Sarnia Sting.

“I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s what our team kind of needs, to be honest. We’ve got to be better, and we know that.”

On the winning goal, with Josh Bloom serving a head-checking penalty, Hardie put the puck into the goalmouth from deep on the left wing, and defenceman Callaghan made just enough contact to propel it into the net. Kasper Larsen also assisted.

The Steelheads, who trailed 3-2 after two periods, tied it at 3:50 of the final frame when Hardie snapped the puck past DiVincentiis after Zander Veccia intercepted a clearing attempt at the right point. It was Hardie’s third goal of the series.

Having trailed 1-0 through 20 minutes, the Battalion tied it when Tarasevich, on his backhand, drove down the left wing fending off Finn Harding and jammed the puck home from the crease at 2:07 of the middle period. Bloom, with his first OHL playoff assist, and Luc Brzustowski set up the play for Tarasevich’s first OHL playoff marker.

MacDonell replied at 3:42, getting to the left lip of the crease to put the puck into the open side after the Troops failed to clear their zone.

McDonald tied it 32 seconds later when Justin Ertel seized the puck behind the net and fed it into the slot, where McDonald one-timed his first goal of the set. The assist was Ertel’s first OHL playoff point.

Zito put the Troops ahead 3-2 when he swept a Bloom pass under the diving Leenders at 5:57, with Ty Nelson earning the other assist as the teams completed a flurry of four goals in a span of 3:50.

Hardie opened the scoring on the power play at 15:37 of the first period, connecting from the left circle off a rush. Callaghan and Chas Sharpe assisted.

North Bay failed to score on a two-man advantage lasting a minute after Larsen and Parker Von Richter went off for holding and high-sticking at 5:36 and 6:36 respectively. The Troops, who didn’t have a shot on goal until Dalyn Wakely tested Leenders at 5:27, managed just three shots on the power-play sequence.

Mississauga had the first seven shots on the way to a 16-7 first-period edge. Matvey Petrov drove up the slot but was foiled by Leenders at 18:21 before DiVincentiis sprawled to deny Hardie at the back door on the left side 35 seconds later and stymied Adam Zidlicky at the crease at the buzzer.

Game 3 can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700 at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

BATTALION BULLETS: On Ontario Northland Career Day, the company gave key tags to the first 1,000 visitors to its concourse table, raffled off a gift basket and awarded Apple AirPods. A remote-control bus obstacle race and a bus tour also were featured. Taking part in the ceremonial faceoff were three generations of the Gravelle family, Ray, Jean and Ashton, all former or current employees of the transportation company, which originated in 1902 … The Battalion has an all-time won-lost record of 85-101 in playoff games, including 45-47 in home dates. The Troops are 38-35 in playoff games since relocation from Brampton for the 2013-14 season, including 21-15 at home. The franchise is 14-23 in the second game of a playoff series, including 9-14 on home ice and 3-4 at Memorial Gardens … The Battalion went 0-for-4 on the power play. Mississauga was 2-for-6 … The Battalion scratched Wyatt Kennedy, Tnias Mathurin, Jacob Therrien, Brayden Turley and Brett Bouchard … Charlie Robertson, who backed up DiVincentiis, marked his 18th birthday … Mississauga was without Dylan Gordon, Ryan Struthers and Quinn Binnie …  The only lineup change from Game 1 for either team saw Stevie Leskovar replace Gordon … The Steelheads arrived in North Bay on Thursday and spent three nights in the city … Pat Myers and Andrew Willmetts were the referees.