Windsor rematch on tap
NORTH BAY, Ont. — The North Bay Battalion, coming off five straight road dates, plays host to the Windsor Spitfires at 7 p.m. Thursday to open a stretch of four home games in the next five.
After two earlier setbacks to the host Soo Greyhounds, the Battalion lost 4-3 at Windsor last Thursday night, defeated the London Knights 3-2 via shootout Friday night and was edged 2-1 Sunday by the Niagara IceDogs.
North Bay has a won-lost-extended record of 25-21-2 for 52 points, tied with Niagara for second place in the Ontario Hockey League’s Central Division and fifth place in the Eastern Conference, five points behind the Peterborough Petes and four ahead of the Kingston Frontenacs before their visit Wednesday night to the Brantford Bulldogs.
The Troops’ last game at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens saw them defeat Brantford 5-4 in overtime Jan. 22.
Windsor is 32-11-6 for 70 points, first in the West Division, one point up on the Flint Firebirds before their away date Wednesday night with the Sarnia Sting.
“I am concerned right now just making sure that we’re playing to our game, especially in the midst of playing some of the top opponents, keeping the belief going, and I think that’s why it’s so crucial to be able to get the London win,” Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen said Wednesday.
“We’re right there with Windsor. I thought we were going to tie it up late. Having the Brantford win underneath our belts, we’ve got to look ahead and draw on those games and those moments.”
Oulahen acknowledged that playing the Spitfires twice in four games may be beneficial.
“I do think it kind of helps, when you’re playing against Western Conference teams, to play them in a short span, because we put a lot into the pre-scout, especially when we play a team first on the weekend, so all that work and all the things that go in. There is some familiarity now, especially with special teams, what they’re trying to do against our penalty kill and vice versa on the power play.
“Those are things that we can have a little bit of a tell and some familiarity with and, hey, know that we are right there with these guys.”
The loss at St. Catharines, in which Ryan Roobroeck scored the winner at 19:58 of the third period, made for a disappointing end to a three-game road trip.
“We would have liked to squeeze one out there in Niagara,” said Oulahen. “That was a tough one to swallow with less than two seconds to go. That would have made for a really, really nice road trip, but it is what it is.
“We’ve got to scrape and claw here. It’s super tight in our division and in our conference right now, so we’ve got to look ahead here and try to get as many points as we can.”
After facing Windsor, the Battalion has a home-and-home series with the Barrie Colts, opening Saturday night at the Sadlon Arena and ending Sunday at North Bay.
With 20 games left on the schedule, the Battalion has 12 dates at home, where the team is 14-8-0, and eight on the road, where it’s 11-13-2.
The Windsor game features CMHA Talk Today.
