The North Bay Battalion is heading down to Barrie in hopes of regaining home-ice advantage with a road win on Tuesday night in Barrie.
The Troops rebounded from a 3-2 overtime loss in game one with a 5-2 victory over the Colts Sunday afternoon to leave the series tied 1-1 heading to the Sadlon Arena.
Ryan Oulahen, Battalion head coach was happy with the response in game two.
"I think there are still areas that we’ve got to get better at and make sure we’re growing as the series goes on, because I know Barrie’s going to continue to get better and make tweaks as well,” Oulahen said during Monday afternoon's media conference at Memorial Gardens.
Oulahen says he wants his club to stick to the plan and play disciplined.
“There’s a way we want to play. There’s a way we want to go on the attack, and there are some things that are going our way right now," he said.
The animosity between the traditional rivals in the Central Division, in which North Bay finished first and Barrie second, for conference rankings of second and third respectively, has been apparent, even if power-play totals haven’t been off the charts. In the series, the Colts are 2-for-9 on the power play and the Battalion 1-for-7.
“We have to manage our emotions,” Oulahen noted.
“I know the guys in that room. There’s a lot of leadership in there. We have a very strong, big leadership group, and I know they’re talking about it, and I think that they’ll manage their emotions and we’ll do the best we can in that way.”
With the third and fourth games set for the Sadlon Arena, Oulahen believes the Troops are ready for the challenge down Highway 11.
“It’s a good building. It’s a good atmosphere, so maybe that’ll help our guys get a little energized and feed off that a little bit, and I know that there’s going to be some Battalion fans moving along as well, so once the puck drops it’s just another game.”
The Colts will have the last change at home, but Oulahen suggested that line-matching may not be all that significant.
“If you’re sticking to your matchup almost too much, you lose the rhythm of our group, and I thought we did a better job of that yesterday. Obviously, there are some matchups we like, but not being super particular with that and more focused on our rhythm and our pace, so I thought that was something that we did well.
“When we go on the road we have our depth, so I’m not uncomfortable with the matchups that they’re going to possess, and you get freed up and go play a little freer with maybe a little bit less pressure.”
The series features plenty of offence, as Barrie’s Brandt Clarke leads postseason scoring with six goals and a league-high 13 assists for 19 points, while teammate Evan Vierling is tied for fourth place with one goal and 12 assists for 13 points.
North Bay’s Matvey Petrov is seventh with 12 assists for as many points, and McDonald is tied for eighth with a league-leading nine goals and two assists for 11 points. Ty Nelson is tied for 12th in scoring with three goals and seven assists for 10 points.
The Battalion’s Avery Winslow is tied atop the plus-minus rankings at plus-11.
The game at Barrie can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700 at 7:30 p.m. or can be listened to through the Frontline YouTube page.
