Streaking Troops host Bulls Sunday
BRAMPTON, Ont. – The Battalion takes a four-game unbeaten streak into its Ontario Hockey League regular-season finale against the Belleville Bulls on Sunday. Game time on Fan Appreciation Day is 2 p.m.
The Troops, who secured the seventh Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 5-2 road win over the Mississauga IceDogs on Friday night, will see their first-round playoff opponent determined on the final day of the season.
The Battalion will face the No. 2 seed, the first-place team in the East Division, in a conference quarterfinal. That will be one of the Kingston Frontenacs, Oshawa Generals and Ottawa 67’s.
If Kingston wins at Ottawa on Sunday, it’s the Frontenacs. If not, the picture is murkier and depends on both the Ottawa-Kingston result and Oshawa’s visit from the top-seeded Toronto St. Michael’s Majors on Sunday night.
Coach Stan Butler’s charges, who earned a 2-1 victory at Oshawa on Thursday night, are playing their best hockey of the season, as evidenced by a won-lost-tied record of 6-2-3 in their last 11 games. The Battalion is 3-0-1 in its last four.
“We’ve been better lately and we want to keep doing that,” said Butler.
Added captain Chris Clayton: “We’ve definitely turned it on over the last month and we’re doing that at the right time. It’s been a group effort, and I think things are looking pretty good heading into the playoffs.”
Butler again saw a balanced Battalion attack at Mississauga, as five players scored in the win.
“You need those types of balanced efforts,” he said. “That’s what needs to happen for a team to win.”
The Troops, fourth in the Central Division with a 25-33-9 record, including two overtime losses, for 61 points, are unbeaten in three games this season against the Bulls, who have dropped their last four games, including a 5-1 road loss to the Sudbury Wolves on Friday night. Belleville is 14-45-8, including one overtime loss, for 37 points, fifth in the East Division.
The Battalion beat the visiting Bulls 5-1 on Dec. 5 as Aaron Lobb and Wojtek Wolski each had a goal and two assists. The teams tied 1-1 at Belleville on Dec. 10, when Brock McPherson scored the tying goal for the Troops early in the third period. The Battalion’s Adam Henrich scored two goals in a 5-3 road win Feb. 25.
That loss eliminated Belleville from playoff contention for the first time since the club’s expansion season of 1981-82, a span of 21 straight postseason appearances.
