The Bunker Report

The Battalion finished off the month of October on a sour note with a tough loss at home on Sunday against Sudbury. The Troops started their stretch of three games in four nights on the road in Niagara on Thursday night, before hosting the Barrie Colts in a Friday night contest at the Bunker.

Niagara has been showing signs lately of busting out of their early season rut. On Thursday the Battalion proved to be no match for the Ice Dogs, dropping the contest 4-1. Brampton held Dougie Hamilton off of the score sheet in the game, but it wouldn’t matter as they could only solve Christopher Festarini once on 32 shots. Patrik Machac picked up another goal for the Troops while Phil Lane quietly added to his point total this year with an assist. Rookie Brandon Robinson also chipped in an assist after scoring his first OHL goal against Peterborough the previous Sunday.

The Battalion then headed home to face Mark Scheifele and the Barrie Colts on Friday night. The game would be Scheifele’s second since being returned to junior by the Winnipeg Jets organization. Brampton would also face the unenviable task of shutting down the Colts top line of Colin Behenna, Zach Hall and Tanner Pearson. The Battalion pressed the action in the first two periods before surrendering a lead in the third. They rallied from a 3-2 deficit to win the game 4-3. Sam Carrick added to his stellar numbers this year with two goals, including the game-tying goal with just over seven minutes to go in the game. Rookie Brandon Robinson then buried the game winner just over a minute after Carrick scored. Mark Schiefele would add a goal and an assist in the contest for the Colts while Zach Hall would tip in a Colin Behenna shot for the Colts third goal.

To round out the weekend, Brampton would play at home against the Sudbury Wolves on Sunday. A tough division matchup ended in a lopsided 4-1 victory for the Wolves. Brandon Robinson scored the only goal for the Battalion, giving him three on the season. Mathew Campagna notched a goal and an assist, while rookie Nathan Pancel had a goal and two assists. The win brought Sudbury above .500 on the season and added to the logjam in the division.

This week, the Battalion takes on Mississauga at home on Thursday night before traveling to London to take on the Knights on Friday. They will then return home on Sunday to face the Guelph Storm in their only game in Brampton this season.