Battalion goalie Jake Smith will need to stand tall in Game 5 after a disappointing outing in Game 4. PHOTO BY LINDSAY SARAZIN.
Stan Butler and Barclay Goodrow both mentioned you need to have a short memory.
In this case, a selective memory works too.
The heartbreaking loss in game 3 and the blowout game 4 defeat are definitely what coach Butler wants to be erased from the minds of the Battalion players as they prepare for a do or die game 5 at the Sleeman Centre Friday night.
"Tomorrow is a new day, we have another game on Friday and we have to get ready for that," Butler stated at the Game 4 post game press conference on Wednesday night.
However, he will want his Troops to remember how well they played at the Sleeman Centre in Game 1 and 2.
In Game 1, the Troops gave the the Storm a big scare when Jamie Lewis broke a 1-1 tie early in the 3rd period.
However, Zack Mitchell got the tying goal and Jason Dickinson ripped home the game winner early in overtime in the series opener.
In Game 2, the Troops erased a 2-0 first period lead and came back with a late goal by Nick Paul to tie at 3-3 and then Barclay Goodrow provided the Battalion heroics with the GWG in overtime.
The remembering part for the Battalion is to try and take the positives from those two road games and help get back to the resilient, hard working fashion they displayed in a pair of frustrating home games for the powerful Storm.
In those wins, the Battalion slowed down the Storm's potent transition game, forcing them to go more East-West than North-South.
The other thing coach Stan Butler will want his players to recall is how they found a way to battle back after being 3 games to 1 down to the Niagara Ice Dogs in the opening series.
How did the Battalion find a way to stay alive in that opening series?
"Obviously we know we are capable of coming back from 3 games to 1," said Butler in the post game press conference.
"But what we have to dwell on is that we played Guelph's game (Wednesday) and as you can see from the results that's not good for us so we have to look at things and sit back and try to get back to the way we need to play to give us the best opportunity we can for Friday night."
But coming back against the Storm will be a challenge. Barclay Goodrow indicated in the Niagara series that his teammates need to just focus on one game at a time.
That doesn't change this time around.
"I think you just need to take it game by game," said Goodrow after game 4.
"We just want to go in Friday not thinking the series is 3-1, it's just a 1-game scenario and we need to win that game in order to keep playing hockey so we are looking at it like that. That's the way we did it against Niagara and we were able to be successful that way."
Smith Falls
Jake Smith is also looking to forget his worst playoff outing from Game 4.
The "Manny Legace" like netminder looked human and may be wearing down after so many heroic displays this playoff season.
Smith was not moving in the same confident fashion in his crease and was caught out of position on a number of goals Wednesday night.
The coaching staff gave Smith a much needed rest in the 3rd period after allowing 7 goals in less than 40 minutes of action in game 4.
Needless to say, Smith will need a way to find his game and regain his confidence in this elimination game.
Battalion Fan Friendly Bus
While the Battalion Fan Club was unable work out a Bus Trip for game 5, many of the fans still got to go on the Bus Thursday.
In a nice gesture by head coach Stan Butler, the Battalion allowed young fans who showed up at 4 pm at the Gardens as part of a send off, to venture on board the Battalion bus to mingle with players while the bus was loading up.
The fan support was impressive despite the lopsided score on Wednesday.
You could see Stan Butler looking up to the stands at the end of Game 4 and just taking in the support as he watched hundreds of fans standing and applauding his weary squad after the disappointing loss.
History to be made?
After the Game 3 loss, Stan Butler told the media you can't change history.
Well, instead of thinking about history, the Battalion now have to focus on trying to make some history, in a series many Storm faithful expect will conclude on Friday night in Guelph.
If they pull out the win on Friday, game 6 will take place Sunday at 2 pm at Memorial Gardens.
