A road game for the North Bay Battalion tonight (Friday), as they travel to Kitchener.

The Rangers won the only other meeting this season between the two teams, 6-3 at Memorial Gardens in late September.

With the Troops clinging to 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, head coach Stan Butler says he hasn’t been in this position in a while.

“It is a concern and our players have to play with a sense of urgency. When the difference of making the playoffs could come down to one or two points, you don’t want to leave points on the table that you could have got,” he said.

The Battalion franchise has only missed the playoffs twice in the past 18 seasons.

As for all the injuries on the blueline, Butler says Brady Lyle (lacerated upper right leg) is probably a couple weeks away from returning.

“He’s the first one of the group that will come back. After that it’s a long time,” Butler says.

With Eric Allair’s back injury, he says there’s no progress while Captain Riley Bruce (shoulder injury) is looking at a possible return on March 1st and Cam Dineen (knee injury) is probably the first round of the playoffs.

Catch tonight’s game on Country 600 CKAT starting at 7:25 pm.