North Bay entered Monday’s matchup looking to remain undefeated on home ice, having won its first three home games of the season despite losing all five on the road. Standing in its way were the Peterborough Petes, led by Vancouver Canucks first-round pick Adam Novotny, who had recorded nine points in seven games entering the contest.
Less than a minute into the game, 2027 NHL Draft-eligible forward Camryn Warren beat out an icing call, found open space to receive a pass just above the left faceoff dot, and beat the Peterborough goaltender cleanly on the glove side to give North Bay an early 1-0 lead.
Shamar Moses brought the physicality early, landing big hits and applying constant pressure on the forecheck, making it difficult for Peterborough’s defenders to exit their own zone.
A few moments later, Peterborough’s Mason Minsky recognized the weak defensive coverage in front of the net and called for the puck. James McMurray delivered a great backhand pass from behind the net to Minsky, who buried the opportunity to tie the game at 1-1.
Warren continued to make his presence felt in the offensive zone, outmuscling Peterborough defenseman Matthew Perreault as he attempted to make a breakout pass. After forcing the turnover, Warren drove to the net and fired a shot that was saved by Peterborough goaltender Matthew Koprowski.
On the power play, Camryn Warren skated the entire perimeter of the offensive zone with the puck before finding Shamar Moses for a one-timer that nearly resulted in a goal. Later on the same power play, Evgeny Dubrovtsev took a seemingly harmless wrist shot from the left faceoff dot that Koprowski allowed past him, giving North Bay a 2-1 lead.
Moments later, Peterborough took another penalty, giving North Bay another power play. Ryder Carey received a pass to the right of the goaltender along the goal line. With no defender between himself and the goalie, Carey drove hard to the net and jammed the puck in to extend the Battalion’s lead to 3-1.
To the ire of the home fans, a North Bay rush was called offside on a very close play, drawing boos from the crowd. To make matters worse, North Bay was also assessed a too-many-men penalty on the same play. Peterborough pushed hard on the power play, including a net-front toe drag by Adam Novotny that nearly beat the goaltender, but North Bay managed to kill off the penalty.
Warren continued to cause problems for Peterborough’s defense in the second period. On a give-and-go, he flew past the blue line and beat the Peterborough goaltender cleanly with a move to his backhand. However, a Peterborough defender took a penalty to prevent Warren from sliding the puck into the open net.
Aside from a couple of strong shifts driven by Adam Novotny, North Bay was the better team in every period, particularly in the second, when the Battalion recorded 17 shots while allowing Peterborough just 5. North Bay’s dominant performance was enough to secure a 3-1 victory, extending its undefeated home record to 4-0.
Game Thoughts
Adam Novotny got off to a hot start this season alongside Cooper Dennis, recording 4 goals and 3 assists in their first 5 games together. However, since the two were separated, Novotny has failed to score a goal, managing just 2 assists in 3 games and 0 points over his last 2 games. Peterborough’s offense has also suffered, dropping from an average of 3.8 goals per game to just 2 over that same stretch.
The combination of Camryn Warren and Shamar Moses proved too much for Peterborough to handle. Warren’s sheer speed and stickhandling, paired with Moses’ relentless pursuit of the puck and impressive quickness of his own, caused problems throughout the game. There are more talented lines in the OHL, but few if any that work as hard as this one.