The Mississauga Steelheads have an important week coming up if they want to get things back on track. The team is 21-17-2 on the season. They are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games and have fallen to fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings. The Steelheads will play the Niagara IceDogs, North Bay Battalion and Brantford Bulldogs this week.
The Steelheads are back on the ice Thursday in Niagara to play the Icedogs. This season, in two meetings, Mississauga has won both games. The Icedogs have a new look team following the trade deadline. New players include Charlie Robertson, Mason Wray and Callum Cheynowski. The Icedogs are last in the Eastern Conference with an 11-22-5 record. Kevin leads the Icedogs in points in 39 games this season. He has 20 goals and 13 assists for 33 points. In the Midseason NHL Central Scouting in North America, He is ranked 89th.
Continuing on the topic of the Midseason NHL Central Scouting, seven Mississauga Steelheads have been included; they are Ryerson Leenders, Jakub Fibigr, Parker Von Richter, Jack Van Volsen, Mason Zebeski, Finn Harding and Luke Misa.
The Steelheads will return home at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre on Friday night to play the North Bay Battalion. North Bay is 4-1 in their last five games, one of those victories against the Steelheads. The Battalion has 46 points on the season. They are one point behind Sudbury for first place in the Eastern Conference, and North Bay is in third place. The Battalion has a lot of skilled forwards up front.
At the time of this article, North Bay plays the Erie Otters on Thursday night. Anthony Romani, Dalyn Wakely and Owen Van Steensel lead the team, and all three players are on point streaks. Romani is on a 17-game point streak. He has 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points in that stretch. Wakely is on a nine-game streak with seven goals and seven assists, and Van Steensal is on an eight-game streak with four goals and five assists.
Anthony Romani ranks 81st in the Midseason NHL Central Scouting. He leads the Battalion with 67 points this season and is tied for first in points in the OHL. The Steelheads will also likely face Dom DiVincentiis, the 2023 goaltender of the year, who is 12-8-2. He has had a disappointing season with a 3.44 GAA and a .0884 save percentage.
Mississauga and North Bay have met three times this season. North Bay has won two of the three.
To close out the weekend, Mississauga will host the second-place Brantford Bulldogs. Both teams met last Sunday. The Bulldogs picked up a 4-2 win. So far, the clubs have split the season series. The Bulldogs upgraded their team big at the trade deadline, acquiring Owen Protz from the Sudbury Wolves, Daniel Sobolev and former Steelhead Zakary Lavoie from the Niagara IceDogs.
The Steelheads must keep their eye on Nick Lardis and Marek Vanacker. Lardis is first in points with Bulldogs at 50, and Vanacker is second at 41. Vanacker is 25th in the Midseason NHL Central Scouting.
These games will be significant for Mississauga if they want to regain a top spot in the Eastern Conference standings race.
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