The North Bay Battalion forced game five with a 6-3 win over the Brantford Bulldogs on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
The Bulldogs pounced on Battalion G Mike McIvor and outshot their counterparts 3-0 in the first five minutes. But the Battalion struck first at the 7:22 mark. LW Briir Long forced a turnover from former teammate Bulldogs D Lucas Moore in their zone and passed the puck to C Nolan Laird. Laird then skated the puck towards the Bulldogs net and shot the puck in the right side and past G Ryerson Leenders. North Bay extended their lead with less than six minutes left.
After Bulldogs C Jake O’Brien got hit in the Battalion zone, RW Nick Wellenreiter skated the puck across the ice and rifled the puck past the blocker side of Leenders.
The Bulldogs pressed on late in the opening frame with shots from RW Cole Brown and LW Marek Vanacker, but McIvor shut the door with two great saves.
North Bay controlled the tempo throughout the period, and the Bulldogs struggled with their defensive play. As the result, the Battalion led 2-0 through twenty minutes.
Brantford wasted no time to get on the board in the second period. Just fifteen seconds into the middle frame, C Patrick Thomas dished the puck from the right end board to RW Nick Lardis for the one-timer past McIvor.
After Bulldogs D Thomas Budnick called for interference, the Battalion took advantage and regained the two-goal lead. At 6:19, RW Jacob Therrien received the puck from D Jacob LeBlanc near the blue line. Therrien skated the puck to the centre area of the Brantford zone and sniped the puck off the left post and past Leenders.
The Bulldogs had a four-minute, double-minor power-play late in the period. Despite the best efforts from the top power-play unit of Lardis, O’Brien, and Vanacker, they could not solve McIvor. But the Bulldogs pulled within a goal with eighteen seconds left as RW Calvin Crombie buried the puck past the Battalion netminder.
In the third period, the Battalion responded with an early-period goal of their own. On the power play at the 2:17 mark, LeBlanc’s shot from the blue line was redirected by C Ethan Procyszyn and past the left side of Leenders.
The Bulldogs climbed back to within one again at 7:31. Near the Battalion goal, C Noah Nelson passed the puck to rookie D Luca Diplacido and shot the puck through the screen and past McIvor for his first goal in the Ontario Hockey League. But the Battalion responded once more with 9:21 to go in regulation. C Ihnat Pazii scored off the huge rebound and went top-shelf past the Brantford netminder.
Brantford pulled Leenders for an extra attacker with 2:48 left, but a miscue between Lardis and D Tomas Hamara in the neutral zone led to a North Bay empty net goal by Therrien, and sealed the game for the home side.
