Cougars - Giants Preview.

The Prince George Cougars return to action tonight at CN Centre. For the fifth time this season, the Cougars will go head-to-head with the Vancouver Giants. Both teams will be missing some key bodies during this weekend’s set of games. But both teams have plenty of depth and talent, and the team that utilizes their depth the best will find the most success.

VANCOUVER GIANTS:

Overview:

The Vancouver Giants are winless in their last two games, and are 5-4-1-0 in their last 10 games. The Giants last played on Tuesday night in Kent, where they lost 3-0 to the Seattle Thunderbirds.



Who’s Up Front:

With both Brendan Gallagher and Marek Tvrdon attending World Junior matters, a lot of the offensive onus will placed onto the shoulders of Giants captain James Henry. So far this season Henry has recorded 32 points in 34 games and he leads the team in assists with 26.



Who’s on D:

Defensively the Vancouver Giants are led by the duo of David Musil (93) and Neil Manning (91). Both Manning and Musil lead the Giants in points for defenceman with 16 each. Both are reliable rear-guards and will likely be seeing a ton of big minutes against the Cougars top players.



Who’s in Goal:

Vancouver Giants goaltender Adam Morrison comes into tonight’s contest with a 19-7-1-1 record with a 2.46 Goals Against and a save percentage of .909. Morrison has beaten the Cougars three times this season. Morrison’s backup is 16-year-old Jackson Whistle who is 0-4 on the year.



X-Factor:

The Vancouver Giants are extremely dangerous on special teams. They head into tonight’s game with the league’s 7th ranked power play and the league’s fourth best penalty-kill. No Brendan Gallagher and no Marek Tvrdon will hurt the Giants power play somewhat. But the likes of James Henry, Jordan Martinook and Cain Franson are all capable offensively catalysts, and if given the opportunity on the power play they will make any team pay.


PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS


Overview:

The Prince George Cougars head into tonight’s game with a three-game winning streak. They’ve won six of their last eight overall and are right back in the thick of things in the B.C. Division. Heading into tonight the Cougars trail Seattle by one point, Victoria by three points and Kelowna by four in the Western Conference standings.



Who’s Up Front;

The trio of Spencer Asuchak, Troy Bourke and Alex Forsberg got the ball rolling offensively for the Cougars on Saturday in Spokane. Alex Forsberg and Spencer Asuchak both scored goals, while Asuchak and Troy Bourke each finished with two point games. These three will be front and center again tonight for the Cougars if they are to keep their winning ways going.



Who’s on D:

20-year-old defenceman Cody Carlson finds himself in a three-way tie for the team lead in scoring with 23 points in 33 games. Carlson and his defense partner Dan Gibb have been the epitome of consistent for the Cougars this season, and tonight without the likes of Martin Marincin, those two will be logging a ton of ice time against the Giants top guns.



Who’s in Goal:

Drew Owsley has started in eight straight games for the Cougars, and given how well he has played during that stretch he seems to be the favorite to get the call this weekend for the Cougars. Owsley heads into this weekend with a record of 11-16-0-1 and a save percentage of .898. His goals against average is currently sitting at 2.91. Devon Fordyce is Owsley’s backup and earned the Cougars a point against Vancouver in a shootout loss back on November 13th.



X-Factor:

With no Martin Marincin on the back-end a lot of ice-time will have to be made up by the rest of the Cougars blueline. In particular the likes of Jesse Forsberg and Josh Smith will be called upon to make the smart plays and provide the Cougars with consistent and physical defense. If the Cougars get a strong collective effort from their entire squad defensively, they’ll have every opportunity in the world to defeat the Vancouver Giants at home this evening.