Troops win in overtime to fight for another day

Facing elimination in Game 4 of the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference final, the North Bay Battalion managed to stave off elimination on a goal by Sandis Vilmanis, his second of the game, at 6:02 of overtime in a 5-4 decision.

North Bay Battalion celebrate first win of the eastern conference final against Oshawa Generals in Game 4, keeping their playoff dreams alive. May 1, 2024 (Ontario Hockey League)

The Generals lead the best of seven series three games to one heading back to the Motor City on Friday night.

Trailing 4-3 just past the midway mark of the final frame, the Battalion rallied to force the extra session on a goal by Paul Christopoulas with only 69 ticks left on the clock.

Vilmanis then continued his post-season magic by netting the winner in extra time, his ninth of the post season.

"I actually don’t remember everything what happened. Yeah, we kind of got it into the zone and I think their 'D' committed to Arsnby ( Liam ) and he just found me in the middle, and I just had to finish it," said Vilmanis, the game’s first star who also had two assists in the game.

"I had that sense the first shift, you know we scored early, as soon as the puck drops, you could see there’s a feeling with our team here today and we were certainly determined right from puck drop, and the guys just never quit," Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen said.

"It’s just an amazing game."

• Download the CTV News app now
• Get local breaking news alerts
• Daily newsletter with the top local stories emailed to your inbox

The victory for the nearly 4,200 fans at North Bay Memorial Gardens left them banking on yet another appearance by their beloved Troops come Sunday should they prevail in Game 5 in Oshawa.