Two wingers return for busy weekend
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Philip Lane and Craig Moore hope to add a spark to the Brampton Battalion’s sputtering offence when they return to the Ontario Hockey League team’s lineup this weekend.
Right winger Lane has missed six games, while left winger Moore has been out for the last four. Their anticipated returns are welcome ones for the Battalion, which has scored just five goals during a four-game losing streak.
The Battalion hosts the Belleville Bulls at 7:30 p.m. Friday before visiting the Niagara IceDogs at 7 p.m. Saturday and entertaining the Windsor Spitfires at 2 p.m. Sunday in a second straight three-in-three weekend.
Lane, 18, was checked in the head by Liam Heelis during a 4-1 loss Jan. 16 to the visiting Owen Sound Attack.
“I didn’t really see him coming, and he got me on the blind side,” Lane said Thursday. “It’s part of the game. It was the kind of injury we didn’t want to rush. I didn’t want to come back too soon and find myself out of the lineup again. I needed to make sure I was completely ready.”
Lane has nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points in 34 games this season but hasn’t scored since producing two goals in a 5-3 victory Dec. 31 over the visiting Kingston Frontenacs.
“I hope I can contribute some offence. It’s good to be able to come back and help. We’re in a little slump right now, and hopefully we can turn that around. All we need is a guy or two to get a good bounce or a lucky goal and that can really change things.”
Moore, who turns 20 on Feb. 14, suffered a shoulder injury after colliding with teammate Spencer Abraham in the Battalion’s most recent win, a 3-2 verdict via shootout over the host Plymouth Whalers on Jan. 21.
“It was a fluky play,” said Moore. “Abraham got hit and just flew into me. I hit the glass, and my shoulder popped. It was pretty sore, but I’m 100 percent now and ready for a big weekend. It’s tough to watch the guys go out and work hard and not get the result they deserve.”
Moore, expected to skate on a line with centre Jonathan Johansson and right winger Matt MacLeod, has four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 42 games.
“As a team, we’ve been getting lots of shots and we need to start burying our chances,” said Moore. “I know I need to step up and score more, and I know Lane has more goals in him too. I’m hoping I can produce some offence with my linemates. I know we’re all struggling a bit offensively.”
The Battalion and Bulls meet for the third time this season. The first two games, both at Belleville, were 2-1 verdicts decided in shootouts. The Bulls won the first meeting, on Dec. 11, while the Troops claimed the Jan. 1 rematch. Matej Machovsky and Belleville’s Malcolm Subban accounted for all the goaltending.
“We have some trouble scoring goals against Belleville,” said Lane. “Subban was great in both of those games.”
The Bulls have lost their last two games, including a 5-3 setback at home Wednesday night against the Oshawa Generals.
“They’re a young team that will come out and battle hard every night,” said Moore. “We’ve seen that in the first two games against them. We’ll need to be ready for them, and hopefully a good performance will set the tone for the whole weekend.”
The Battalion faces Niagara four more times. The teams split their first two games, with each side winning on the road.
“Their rink is a tough one to play in,” noted Moore. “They’re a good team, but nobody should count us out.”
The first meeting between the Battalion and Spitfires was a wild affair at Windsor on Jan. 20. The Troops rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four third-period goals, but lost a 6-5 decision in an eight-round shootout.
“Windsor can really score,” said Moore. “But we had a lot of chances to end that game and we didn’t, and that came back to bite us. We need to show them we can play hard against the top teams every night.”
The Battalion is sixth in the Eastern Conference with a won-lost-extended record of 20-22-6 for 46 points, five behind Kingston and five ahead of the Sudbury Wolves.
“At one point we were ahead of Kingston, but we’ve fallen back and they’ve opened up some room on us,” said Moore. “The Wolves were pretty far back, but they’ve started creeping up on us. We can’t just be focused on catching Kingston. We now have to focus on the teams behind us as well.”
