67’s hope to close gap to Battalion

It’s the biggest game of the season thus far for the Ottawa 67’s (19-30-3-5), as they host the North Bay Battalion (23-29-5-0) inside The Arena at TD Place at 7 p.m., hoping to bring themselves within three points of the eighth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. You can still grab your tickets here.

Everything you need to know about your evening at TD Place can be found here. If you can’t make it, you can follow along on Rogers TV and CHLTV, and listen to Kenny Walls’ call on TSN 1200.

The Barber Poles come into Friday’s action after a 1-1 weekend last time out, first bearing the Niagara IceDogs 6-2, before falling 5-1 to the Brantford Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon. In that contest, Nick Lardis scored a trio of goals, while Chris Barlas scored the 67’s lone marker.

Friday night marks the second-to-last game of Ottawa’s six-game homestand, in which time the Barber Poles have won two and lost two.

North Bay hasn’t had much rest recently, playing five games since last Thursday. At home last night, they earned a hard-fought point in a 2-1 loss to the Brampton Steelheads to move five points clear of the 67’s in the standings, getting their only goal from Lirim Amidovski.

Charlie Larocque stopped 33 shots in the loss, while rookie defenceman Kent Greer picked up his 13th point of the year.

With two games remaining in the season series, the 67’s and Troops are deadlocked at two wins apiece. North Bay won the most recent contest 3-2 on February 17th inside The Arena at TD Place.

By the numbers

Keys to the game

• Poise

The Troops make things difficult for their opposition. Poise when making plays will be important, particularly on zone exit.

• Goalie duel

Ottawa and North Bay play close games; typically, the team with the best goaltending wins.

• Moment

It’s a big game, so you can’t let the moment be too big. Go out and play solid hockey for 60 minutes.