The North Bay Battalion is looking to build off an impressive 3-2 OT home win last Thursday against the Kitchener Rangers as the Troops host the visiting Peterborough Petes tonight.
“We were pretty excited the way our young team played against Kitchener,” said Stan Butler, director of hockey operations and head coach, during Wednesday’s media conference.
“To hold them to no even-strength goals against was really good.”
See related: Battalion oust Rangers in OT
However, the following day was a game to forget for the Battalion as they were pounded 11-3 at the hands of the Sudbury Wolves in Sudbury.
“Our first period in Sudbury was actually quite good. It was 1-1, and they scored in the last minute to make it 2-1, and then to say we fell apart in the second period would be an understatement,” said Butler.
“It made for a long evening and a lot of times seeing that wolf cross the ice,” he said referring to the tradition of pulling a stuffed wolf across a high wire after each goal.
See related: Seven second period goals lead to an 11-3 loss for Troops in Sudbury
Butler says his 1-3 club will need to come out hard against a Petes team that is coming in with a 2-1 record.
“They’re a good, older team,” he said.
“We’ve got to play a very consistent game. We cannot be outworked and we cannot turn pucks over.”
Through four games the Battalion is led offensively by Brad Chenier and Mitchell Russell, who have a team-leading four points apiece for the Battalion. Of course, Chenier was the hero last Thursday when he netted the OT winner versus the Rangers.
The Petes are led offensively by Toronto Maple Leafs prospects Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Nick Robertson and between the pipes, they have goaltender Hunter Jones who Butler believes, has a shot at making Team Canada’s World Junior team.
It will also mark the return to Memorial Gardens of defenceman David Maier. The Austrian defender was released by the Troops prior to the import draft but was scooped up by the Petes.
The former Battalion defender has three assists in three games so far this season with the Petes.
