BRAMPTON, Ont. – A Brampton Battalion team beset by injuries looks to get back on the winning track at 2 p.m. Sunday when it hosts the Niagara IceDogs in Ontario Hockey League action.

The Battalion, which has lost four straight games, suffered another blow Friday night when right winger Barclay Goodrow took a broken stick to the torso in the fourth minute of an eventual 4-0 loss to the host Sudbury Wolves.

“With Barclay getting hurt, and the other guys we already have out of our lineup, to lose the only guy we have on our team with double-digit goals is a big loss,” said coach Stan Butler.

“Injuries need to be digested for 24 hours before they can be diagnosed in the proper way, but I can’t see either Patrik Machac or Goodrow being back Sunday.”

Centre Machac suffered a shoulder injury in a 2-1 loss via shootout to the visiting Kitchener Rangers on Thursday night.

The Troops, who have a won-lost-extended record of 14-10-4 for 32 points, are tied with Niagara for first place in the Central Division. The IceDogs were to host the Barrie Colts, third with 31 points, on Saturday night, with the winner assuming first place, albeit on a tiebreaker for Barrie if it were an extended loss by Niagara.

The Battalion last won Nov. 23 in a 5-3 road decision over the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.

“We had a tough game with Kitchener on Thursday night, and the kids played really well,” said Butler. “We’ve played a lot of hockey lately, and I’m not so sure a day off Saturday isn’t probably the best way to go to allow them, especially after a bus ride like the one to Sudbury, to rest their bumps and bruises.”

Said Goodrow: “It’s definitely a tough stretch we’re going through right now. We have to find ways to build chemistry with different guys and find ways to put the puck in the net, because right now we’re not doing that.”

In the last four games, the Battalion has scored three goals.

“The biggest thing right now is we have some kids who, quite frankly, haven’t really produced much this year,” said Butler. “They’ve got to look at this as an opportunity for themselves, and we need some of those guys to step up and start producing.

“The tough thing for some of those kids is, when the healthy bodies come back, if they don’t produce while the bodies are out, it’s going to make it tough for them to get into the lineup once everybody gets healthy.”

With injuries to Machac, Matt MacLeod, Ian Watters and Michael Santini, as well as a 10-game suspension to Alex O’Neil, the Battalion called up left winger Geoff Bezruchko from the affiliated junior A Orangeville Flyers for the game at Sudbury.

“It felt good to be here,” said Bezruchko. “I played a bit in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Gatineau Olympiques, but it’s a different game over there.

“The Q is a lot different because there’s a lot more speed and not as much dump and chase, not as much physicality. The OHL game is largely similar to the National Hockey League game, with a lot more hitting and bigger guys, so it prepares you better for the next level.”

Bezruchko, who has three goals and five assists for eight points in 11 games with Orangeville, played three games with Gatineau this season without recording a point. Last year he played 56 OHL games with the Peterborough Petes, scoring five goals and adding one assist for six points.

“I just go out and try to provide energy for the guys, keep my game simple, finish my checks, work hard and just try to create opportunities,” said Bezruchko.   

Noted Butler: “He’s got some experience, he’s played some games in major junior and he’s a big body. If we’re going to continue to use him, we need to get him to some practices to get him up to the tempo and speed of the game a little more.”

MacLeod has a concussion from a crosscheck by Darnell Nurse in a 7-2 loss Nov. 18 to the host Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Santini suffered a separated shoulder in a 3-0 win Nov. 20 at Sudbury, and Watters is recovering from surgery on severed tendons in his right wrist.