The North Bay Battalion look to move back into a playoff position on home ice tonight (Thursday).

The Troops are currently 9th place in the Eastern Conference standings, one point behind Niagara, who they play on the weekend.

With 18 regular season games left, Coach Stan Butler says every game takes on added importance.

He says they can’t look past tonight and points out Guelph is in a tough division with Erie, London, Owen Sound and Kitchener.

The Battalion, who have 2 games in hand on the IceDogs could have Brady Lyle (pictured) back in the lineup soon, but Butler says there’s no sign of Riley Bruce, Eric Allair or Cam Dineen playing at this point.

He say depth on defense is a major liability right now with heavy minutes for regulars Jesse Saban, Zach Shankar, Adam Thilander and Mark Shoemaker.

The Troops hit the road after tonight’s game, with 7 of their next 8 games away from Memorial Gardens.

Two of those are this weekend: Saturday against Niagara and Sunday in Oshawa.

Broadcast time is 6:55 pm tonight on Country 600 CKAT.