The Essex 73's find themselves in unfamiliar territory, as they get set to host Wheatley tonight.
Ten games into this season, the team trails both Mooretown and Blenheim in the standings, and is trying to find consistency after losing three of its last five games.
"We're really struggling to score five-on-five," says Head Coach Cam Crowder.
"We had a big explosion [of goals] last Tuesday night when we played Petrolia and won 10-0, but aside from that, we've struggled to score goals."
The 73's only lost a total of five times last season, six the year before that, and five again in 2013-14.
Just ten games into this season, two points separate second place and sixth in the Provincial Junior Hockey League's Western Conference Stobbs Division. Essex has three and four games in hand on the two teams ahead of them in the standings, and has already beat Wheatley twice this season.
Crowder expects tonight's game to be a good one.
"We're not going to take [Wheatley] for granted," he explains. "Coming into Essex, they beat an Amherstburg team last night that was in the league final last year against us. They're a hard-working team and if you don't bring your A-game, they will beat you."
Puck drop is set for 7:30 at the Essex CSC.
