Troops edge IceDogs 3-2

BRAMPTON, Ont. – The Mississauga IceDogs may be at the bottom of the OHL standings but they have proven to be a stubborn adversary this season for the Battalion, who edged their regional rivals 3-2 in front of 2,219 fans at the Bunker Thursday night.
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Battalion Head Coach Stan Butler was not at all pleased with his team´s performance. "We played at their level tonight and we can only blame ourselves," Coach Butler said bluntly. "We´re a consistent team and we consistently play at the level of the team we are playing and that´s a dangerous thing when you are a good team because you are going to play a lot of teams that aren´t as good as you and you are going to play at their level."
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"It always seems to be up to us how we will play," said defenceman Rostislav Klesla, "and if we keep playing the way we did tonight we aren´t going to be successful."
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"Mississauga always feels that they have something to prove when they play us," said forward Scott Thompson. "We know that and expect them to play that way but for some reason we always come out flat against them."
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"Tonight was a rough game," stated rookie winger Adam Henrich, "because Mississauga always plays us hard."
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The ´Dogs, who have not won in their last 24 games, more than held their own in an uninspiring opening frame but headed to the locker room down 1-0 after Raffi Trorres scored at 19:10. Torres, who had a couple of eye-popping shifts, was awarded his 33rd goal of the season after he tipped a Rostislav Klesla point shot past Mississauga netminder Rob Garrick.
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"The first period was really sloppy," said Captain Jason Maleyko. "We didn´t have our passes going and we have to come out a lot harder than that."
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Chris Rowan gave the Troops a 2-0 lead at 9:27 of the second period when he took a pass from Lukas Havel and buried the puck into the wide-open cage for his 17th goal of the year. Linemate Kurt MacSweyn picked up the second assist.
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Rob Garrick kept the Battalion from extending their lead to three goals when he made a huge save on MacSweyn at 17:42 and less than two minutes later, Mississauga rookie Patrick Jarrett scored a power play goal to cut the deficit to one. Jarrett´s goal, which came just 11 seconds after Paul Flache had been sent off for cross checking, came about after Jarrett picked up the puck to the left of Battalion goaltender Brian Finley. Jarrett whipped a wrist shot between Finley´s legs for his 14th goal of the campaign.
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Jay McClement restored the two goal Brampton lead at 8:05 of the third period when Rob Garrick got caught out of his net as he tried to clear the puck. McClement took a pass from Aaron Van Leusen and directed it into the open net for his 28th goal of the year. Jason Maleyko picked up the second helper.
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The IceDogs collected their second power play goal of the night at 14:24 after the Battalion had been served with a bench minor for too many men on the ice. Omar Ennaffati took a pass right off the draw from Mike Oliveira and beat Brian Finley with a shot from the point for his 11th goal of the season.
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Mississauga came close to tying the game with Garrick on the bench for an extra skater, but Brian Finley made a huge save on a shot from in close by Andrew Davis to preserve the victory.
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"You have to give them credit," said defenceman Jay Harrison, "but we have to kick ourselves because the way we played we could have lost and given up two valuable points."
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The Battalion outshot the ´Dogs 34-17, including 23-9 over the last two periods.
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Brampton´s win, combined with Erie´s 4-1 victory over the Windsor Spitfires, moves the Troops into sole possession of third place in the Western Conference. Windsor and Guelph are now tied for fourth spot in the playoff race. The Battalion is idle Friday night while the Spitfires will host the Plymouth Whalers and the Storm will welcome the Owen Sound Attack.
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The Troops have compiled a 14-1-3 record in 18 lifetime starts against the IceDogs – including a 3-0-2 mark this year – but two of this year´s games went to overtime and two others were settled by only a goal.
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Jeff Bateman and Anthony Marshall did not dress for the Battalion.
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Mike James, Mike Wehrstedt, Tyler Eady, Brian McGrattan and Chris Osborne were scratched for Mississauga.
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The Battalion will be in action Saturday night in Owen Sound before returning home Sunday afternoon to host the Guelph Storm.
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