Road rematch with ´Dogs on tap for Battalion

BRAMPTON, Ont. – The Battalion plays its first game of 2002 on Wednesday night when it travels to Mississauga to meet the IceDogs. Game time at the Hershey Centre is 7:30 p.m., and fans in the Brampton area can see the game live on Rogers Cable 10.
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The Peel rivals last met Monday afternoon at the Bunker, with Kurt MacSweyn scoring a pair of third-period goals to lead the Troops to a 5-3 victory. Wednesday´s meeting will be the fourth of the season between Brampton and Mississauga. The Battalion won the last game at the Hershey Centre, when MacSweyn collected a hat trick on the way to a 7-5 win on Oct. 24.
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The ´Dogs are 4-14-2 this season at home, while the Troops have a 7-9-2 record away from the Bunker. Mississauga´s power play is ranked 18th in the league at home, and Brampton´s penalty killers are tied for fifth in the league on the road.
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The game will conclude the fourth home-and-home series between Brampton and Mississauga since the two clubs entered the OHL. In 1998-99, the Troops routed the ´Dogs 8-3 on New Year´s Eve in Brampton, but Mississauga scored a pair of late goals two days later at home to earn a 3-3 tie. A year later, on Feb. 25, 2000, Aaron Van Leusen´s third-period power play goal gave the Battalion a 3-2 win in Mississauga, and two days later Van Leusen had a goal and two assists in a 5-1 win at the Bunker. Last season, the squads opened their campaigns with a home-and-home series. The season opener, at the Hershey Centre on Sept. 22, ended in a 2-2 tie, with Battalion goaltender David Chant stopping Chad Wiseman on a breakaway in overtime. Two days later at the Brampton Centre, the Battalion outshot the ´Dogs 52-25 on its way to a 4-3 win.
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The Troops, who are unbeaten in 10 games all-time at the Hershey Centre with a record of 7-0-3, will travel to Kitchener on Friday to meet the Rangers before returning home to host the Erie Otters on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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