Ryan Oulahen believes the Windsor Spitfires record is deceiving.
“I’ve actually been very impressed with this group," said Oulahen about the Spitfires.
"High-octane, they can turn things around really quickly. They’re used to playing a lot of high-scoring games because they can score goals, so we have to be really good defensively Thursday night.”
With three weekends and nine games left on the schedule, the North Bay Battalion gets down short strokes of the Ontario Hockey League race when it plays host to the Windsor Spitfires at 7 p.m. Thursday.
North Bay has a won-lost-extended record of 32-19-8 for 72 points, second in the Central Division, three points behind the Sudbury Wolves who lost in overtime Wednesday night at the hands of the Soo Greyhounds.
The Battalion, 10-4-0 in its last 14 games, completes play this week with a Saturday night trip to Barrie and a home date Sunday with Sudbury.
Windsor, 18-34-7 for 43 points, last in the West Division and Western Conference, defeated the Battalion 5-4 in overtime Oct. 5 at the WFCU Centre in their only other meeting of the season.
Oulahen hopes his Troops don't decide to look past the struggling Spitfires.
“Probably the biggest message for this weekend is we have to take care of business,” Oulahen said.
“We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Tnias Mathurin has sat out the last two games, including a 9-3 home-ice victory Sunday over the Niagara IceDogs in the most recent outing.
Oulahen says that was a matter of rest.
“He’s been doing really well. I think it was more of a case of those back-to-back weeks, the Family Day week and then going into the three-in-three. It was a lot, so just kind of load management and making sure he’s a hundred percent.”
NHL top draft prospect Liam Greentree leads Windsor scorers with 30 goals and 50 assists for 80 points in 55 games, and Ryan Abraham has 27 goals and 28 assists for 55 points in 56 games.
Windsor added Pasquale Zito, Djibril Toure and Max Donoso before the trade deadline, shipping out Aidan Castle, Oliver Peer, Jacob Maillet, Ian Michelone and Roberto Mancini.
Zito, whose rights were acquired from North Bay, played five games, registering three goals and three assists for six points, before again going home. He was a second-round pick by Windsor in 2019 before being traded to Niagara and then the Battalion.
Windsor received Owen Outwater, a former member of the Troops, in a Nov. 16 trade with the Kingston Frontenacs, but he suffered a shoulder injury Jan. 6 in a 4-3 loss via shootout to the host Erie Otters, underwent surgery and is gone for the season.
