Trout trouble Troops

NORTH BAY, Ont. — Porter Martone’s goal at 17:00 of the second period proved the winner as the Mississauga Steelheads skated to a 4-2 Ontario Hockey League victory Thursday night over the hot-and-cold North Bay Battalion.

Angus MacDonell, Mason Zebeski and James Hardie, into an empty net, also scored for Mississauga, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 23-19-4 for 50 points, third in the Central Division. Goaltender Alessio Beglieri made 25 saves before a crowd of 2,309.

Matvey Petrov and Josh Bloom scored for North Bay, while goaltender Dom DiVincentiis allowed three goals on 30 shots as the Troops played the first of five consecutive home games.

The Battalion, which has alternated wins and losses in its last four games, is 33-13-2 for 68 points, first in the division and tied with the East Division’s Ottawa 67’s, who hold three games in hand, atop the Eastern Conference and league.

For the first time, the Steelheads wore a sweater patch on the chest in memory of Hazel McCallion, the longtime Mississauga mayor who died Sunday at 101.

“We weren’t our normal selves,” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen. “It seemed like we were fighting the puck a lot. We were just not in synch.

“We were trying to make a push there, and every time we made a push it just seemed like it was hard to kind of make that secondary push, so we got what we deserved tonight. Mississauga came in here and outworked us and outplayed us and ended up earning the two points more than us.”

Bloom darted to the net to put the puck past Beglieri on the power play at 8:57 of the third period, pulling the Troops within 3-2. Kyle McDonald and Ty Nelson assisted on Bloom’s 24th goal of the season, his 17th in 31 games since a Nov. 16 trade from the Saginaw Spirit.

The Battalion couldn’t capitalize on a tripping penalty to Kai Schwindt at 9:28 and, with DiVincentiis gone for a sixth attacker, Hardie raced down the ice, pursued by Petrov, for a team-leading 30th goal into the empty net at 19:09.

Mississauga, which led 1-0 through 20 minutes, saw Zebeski double the lead at 11:50 of the second period when he converted a Justin DeZoete rebound in tight to the left side. Brice Cooke had the other assist on Zebeski’s fourth goal.

With three minutes left in the frame, rookie Martone jammed at DiVincentiis’s right foot to free the puck and put it home for a 3-0 lead. It was Martone’s 10th goal and fourth since a Jan. 7 trade from the Sarnia Sting.

Petrov rushed up the middle as the trailer on a three-man rush with Dalyn Wakely and Anthony Romani, scoring a 22nd goal on the season at 18:59. The OHL’s leading scorer entering the game, Petrov slipped to second with 70 points, one behind Matthew Maggio of the Windsor Spitfires, who had two goals and one assist in a 7-4 win over the visiting Soo Greyhounds.

MacDonell connected at 1:23 of the first period, poking the poke into the net past a prone DiVincentiis. Kasper Larsen had the lone assist on MacDonell’s 16th goal, his fourth since a separate Jan. 7 trade from Sarnia.

After MacDonell and Brayden Hislop drew coincidental roughing minors at 8:09, Wakely was banished for delay of game after putting the puck into the stands at 8:21, but the Battalion killed the two-man disadvantage lasting 38 seconds.

The Troops host the Kingston Frontenacs at 4 p.m. Sunday on Cogeco Hockey Day in the OHL, when one fan can win an autographed sweater. Minor hockey teams can get group tickets at a special price and have a postgame skate with mascot Sarge. Bonhomme will be in attendance as Les Compagnons celebrate their 60th anniversary.

BATTALION BULLETS: On Bruce Power Night, North Bay’s Maria Dominico, a member of the Canadian women’s hockey team that won gold at the FISU World University Games at Lake Placid, N.Y., took part in the pregame faceoff. There also was an intermission trivia game … The game was the fourth of six between the clubs, with each having a record of 2-2-0. The Troops won 5-2 on Dec. 9 at Mississauga and 7-3 at home Dec. 15. The host Steelheads prevailed 5-4 on Jan. 20. The next meeting is March 3 at Mississauga … Avery Winslow and Romani each played a 100th game with the Battalion. Winslow arrived in a Jan. 10, 2020, trade after 28 games for the London Knights, who made him a fifth-rounder in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection from the Notre Dame Hounds midgets of Wilcox, Sask. The Troops took Romani in the third round in 2021 from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16s … Battalion defenceman Wyatt Kennedy, who’s in Grade 12 at Chippewa Secondary School, was named the division’s academic player of the month for January … North Bay went 1-for-4 on the power play. Mississauga was 0-for-3 … The Battalion scratched Tnias Mathurin, Brayden Turley, Justin Ertel, Liam Arnsby, Luc Brzustowski and Pasquale Zito … Chase MacQueen-Spence played a second game after being recalled from the junior B St. Marys Lincolns … Ryan Elbers and Jack Hennigan were the referees.