Colts seek revenge

Mark Scheifele brings another weapon to the Colts.

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One month ago the Majors scored three unanswered goals in the third period, including the winner with eight seconds remaining, to defeat the Colts in Barrie in their only meeting so far this season. The win was Mississauga's sixth in a row to start the season and they would win one more the next night before the Brampton Battalion snapped their winning streak at seven. Wins haven't been as easy to come by since then for the Majors, who have lost their last three games.

The Colts are a different team now with the return of Winnipeg Jets first-rounder Mark Scheifele, who's coming off a two-goal effort in Team OHL's 10-7 win over Team Russia in Thursday's Subway Super Series contest. Although he adds more offence and stabilizes the top three lines, the Colts are just 2-3-1 with their playmaker back in junior.

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Mississauga leads the Central Division standings with 23 points, one point more than Brampton and five up on Barrie. The Majors are second in the Eastern Conference standings behind Ottawa.

Can the Majors limit Scheifele's damage?

Since being sent back to junior by the Jets on Oct. 23, Scheifele is producing at a two-point per game clip in the OHL. He joins a group of Tanner Pearson, Colin Behenna and Zach Hall who have all surpassed the 30-point plateau this season. Scheifele's return was bad news for everyone else in the league since it now brings another weapon to the Colts who will try to spread the scoring around.

"Definitely gives us a little more depth," head coach Dale Hawerchuk said. "I feel we have three strong lines and a pretty tenacious fourth line. I think any time you add a player or, for that matter, extract a player of that kind of caliber, it affects the team one way or the other."

The Majors have always been known as a team with good defence. New head coach and general manager James Boyd, who took over for Dave Cameron this season, believes his team can minimize Scheifele's effectiveness by sticking to the game-plan.

"We have to play with some structure and eliminate the second and third opportunities," Boyd said. "They're a team that really does a job off the rush and buzzes the net and when they hurt teams, I think it's often with their crashing of the net and their extra pass. We're going to clog up the middle and use some good sticks and body position to take away the second and third chances."

Which special teams unit will win out?

The Colts boast the fifth-best power-play in the league with a 22.9 rate of efficiency this season. The Majors, meanwhile, have the ninth-best penalty kill at 81.2 per cent; an area Boyd readily admits is in need of improvement.

"Our penalty kill has been good at times and it struggled at other times," he said. "I think that's a byproduct of having quite a few first-year guys on the penalty kill in the first stretch of the season."

Boyd's unit has been a work in progress due to key suspensions and injuries.

Although Barrie's power-play has been effective, Hawerchuk feels it can't only be judged by the number of pucks finding the back of the net.

"We've had pretty good success," he said. "Sometimes, you just don't rate your power-play with the percentage. It's just what you're doing when you're out there. Usually, most teams' best penalty-killer is the goaltender. If we're not scoring, usually we're at least putting pressure on their goalie to make saves."

Can both teams minimize penalties?

The Majors are the second-most penalized team in the league, averaging more than a period playing while down a man. Boyd's group has been walking on the wrong side of the line between being physical and undisciplined this season.

"We want to be aggressive and we want to play a physical game, but we have to avoid the penalty box," he said. "When we run into these hot teams like Barrie, who have excellent power-plays, as soon as you get over four or five minor penalties you're starting to get into dangerous waters."

"Coaching enough games in this league now," Hawerchuk says, "you're not sure how games are going to be called sometimes, whether they're calling everything or they're not. That's been the case since the beginning of time."

The Colts will need to be mindful of the Majors, even while playing with the extra man. Mississauga has scored nine shorthanded goals this season, an average of one every second game.

"That's a big chunk of our offence too," Boyd said.

How much will the first meetings' dramatic finish influence this game?

With his team on a losing skid, Boyd is hoping a game against the Colts will generate some positive memories from his team's late comeback.

"We were able to make key plays at key times in the game," Boyd said. "That's something we've gotten away from last weekend, seizing that decisive opportunity in the game when the game is won and lost."

Hawerchuk, meanwhile, is hoping his players aren't focusing much on the disappointment from the past and moving forward with a positive mindset.

"In junior hockey, these kids are learning something every night," he said. "That's one reason people love watching junior hockey. A lot of people tell me it reminds them of college football -- it's never over till it's over."