BRAMPTON, Ont. – The Brampton Battalion, enjoying a points-productive stretch despite four losses in its last five games, renews acquaintaince with the visiting Erie Otters in Ontario Hockey League action at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Battalion, which plays four of its next five games at home, hosts an Erie team that’s last in the league in both scoring and defence. The Otters, with a won-lost-extended log of 5-34-2 for 12 points after a 5-0 road loss Saturday night to the Owen Sound Attack, have the OHL’s worst record.

It’s a far cry from just more than a decade ago, when the Troops established a fierce rivalry with Erie on the basis of Western Conference playoff meetings in the Battalion’s second and third seasons, when both clubs were in the Midwest Division.

The Otters were a league-wide force and won the OHL title in 2001-02, the Troops’ fourth season. For their fifth campaign, the Troops were transferred to the Eastern Conference because of the North Bay Centennials’ move to become the Saginaw Spirit.

The Battalion is 23-11-8 for 54 points, second in the Central Division, one point behind the Niagara IceDogs after their 4-1 victory Saturday night over the host Barrie Colts.

“There are two ways to look at life,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler. “You can look at it positively or negatively and, in the hockey business, if you look at it negatively you won’t survive very long.”

The Troops, who lost 3-2 in overtime to the host Oshawa Generals on Friday night, are 1-1-3 in their last five games, each of the losses coming by a one-goal margin.

“For the most part, we’ve been playing good hockey,” Butler said after the game at Oshawa, in which the Battalion rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime and goaltender Keegan Wilson made 35 saves. “Obviously, when you get into one-goal games, your team is not playing badly.”

Said Butler: “We have to find ways to score more on the power play and score more five-on-five. Defensively, we’re playing well. Wilson had a good game for us tonight, and we just have to keep going here.”

The recent losses include a 3-2 decision via shootout last Friday night to the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, a 4-3 loss in overtime at Owen Sound last Saturday night and a 3-2 home-ice setback Thursday night to the Belleville Bulls. The Battalion defeated the visiting Generals 6-2 last Sunday.

“In the Mississauga game, they call a goal back on us with three minutes to go that should have been a good goal,” said Butler. “In Owen Sound, we have three five-on-three power plays to play against, and then here in Oshawa we get a late penalty called on us, so from the kids’ perspective they’re giving it everything they’ve got.”

The Battalion, 9-1-4 in its last 14 games, had a streak of 12 games without a regulation-time loss ended against Belleville. The Troops’ previous defeat in 60 minutes was a 4-0 setback Dec. 2 at the hands of the host Sudbury Wolves.

“If you’re going to have a losing streak, at least if you’re chipping away and getting some points out of it, it’s good,” noted Butler. “We need a big game Sunday. We’ve got to win that game, and next week we’ll get a few days for practice and we have to move forward from there.”