BRAMPTON, Ont. – For a team that, yet again, was scorned by preseason prognosticators, the Brampton Battalion can look back with satisfaction on the first half of the season during the Ontario Hockey League’s Christmas break.

The Battalion, which hit the break and the halfway point in its schedule Sunday with a 6-1 home-ice victory over the Sarnia Sting, has ridden a season-high six-game winning streak to a won-lost-extended record of 20-10-4 for 44 points, first in the Central Division and one point behind the Ottawa 67’s, leaders of the East Division and Eastern Conference.

“We just have to keep steering the ship in the same direction and continue to work hard,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler, who cited the team’s work ethic as a point of pride.

“They play really well together, and they’re a really good group of kids.”

Said captain Sam Carrick: “I’m really happy with the guys so far. We know we have a good team here with a great bunch of hardworking guys, and we know we just need to keep winning games every weekend.”                                                       

The Battalion holds a three-point divisional lead over the Barrie Colts and Niagara IceDogs, who are tied for second place with identical records of 19-12-3 for 41 points.

“If you look at Niagara, which has a lot of firepower up front, for us to be ahead of them at this point in the season is a great feeling,” said Carrick. “It’s a confidence-booster for us for sure, so hopefully we can keep winning games and stay atop them and everyone else.”

While the Battalion has been stingy defensively, the Troops have been credited with only 102 goals in 34 games, an average of three a game. That outranks only the Kingston Frontenacs and Erie Otters.

Centre Carrick, a first-round choice in the 2008 OHL Priority Selection and a fifth-round pick of the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, is in his fourth season with the club. He leads the Troops in scoring this season with 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 34 games and is tied with Matt Duchene for 19th place in all-time Battalion scoring with 129 points.

“Everyone is having a good year, and I think that’s a reflection on why we’re doing so well,” said Carrick.

Noted Butler: “There haven’t been too many minuses. The minuses have just been some of the injuries we’ve had, but at the same time the way we’ve responded to those injuries is a positive.”

The Battalion is the OHL’s top defensive team, with a league-low team goals-against average of 2.47. The Kitchener Rangers and Belleville Bulls are tied for second at 2.61. The Troops have the top-ranked penalty killers, with a success rate of 88.1 percent. The Plymouth Whalers are second at 85.9 percent.

“We’ve always had a great penalty kill in Brampton; it’s almost kind of expected,” noted Carrick. “Our system allows us to play really aggressive and not give the other team time to set up, and a lot of the guys on the back end, like Cameron Wind and Zach Bell, and our forwards like to block shots, sacrifice the body and get in the shooting lanes.

“I think our willingness to block shots and sacrifice our bodies shows how we’re a team that’s willing to do anything to save a goal and win a hockey game.”

Carrick noted that the play of goaltenders Matej Machovsky and Keegan Wilson has had a significant impact.

“We knew we had a great goalie in Machovsky, and Wilson has been a good surprise. Wilson has been great for us in the games he’s played.”

Veteran Machovsky, a Czech import acquired in a trade with the Guelph Storm on Dec. 1, 2010, is third in the OHL with a GAA of 2.15. He has a 13-6-2 record with four shutouts and a .913 save percentage. The four shutouts are tied for the league lead with Niagara’s Mark Visentin, currently with the Canadian team that will play in the World Junior Championship starting Monday at Edmonton and Calgary.

First-year goalie Wilson, a 19-year-old taken in the ninth round of the OHL Priority Selection in May, is fifth among OHL goaltenders with a 2.51 GAA. He is 7-4-2 with one shutout and a .906 save percentage.

“It’s huge for us to have these rookies be able to come in and contribute,” said Carrick. “Patrik Machac has been great for us, and you have to give a guy like Brandon Robinson a lot of credit. He’s the youngest guy on the team, really mature, and he’s come in here and really stepped up and showed he truly belongs.”

Centre Machac, a first-round pick in the Canadian Hockey League’s 2011 Import Draft from the Czech Republic, leads Battalion rookies in scoring with eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 29 games.

Left winger Robinson, a first-round pick in the OHL Priority Selection in May and the Battalion’s lone underager, has scored eight goals and added five assists for 13 points in 32 games. His total of five game-winning goals leads the Troops as well as OHL rookies and is tied for second in the league behind Riley Brace of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, who tops the OHL with six game-winners.

Carrick said the team needs to keep playing a simple style of hockey to continue its success in the second half.

“We just have to continue to take it one weekend at a time. Our coaching staff has us prepared for every game. We study each team before we play them and know what to expect, so we just have to continue to do that, keep things simple and keep playing our game.”

Said Butler: “We have to work hard, obviously, in all areas, and there are some areas we know we have to get better at. We know what those areas are, so as we get back we’ll address them and do the best we can.”

The Battalion returns to action when it visits Barrie at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29.