Cougars Blazers Preview.

The Prince George Cougars and Kamloops Blazers will meet for a third consecutive game tonight at CN Centre. The Cougars have now gone two full games in a row without scoring, and are hoping to break out offensively in tonight’s game.

KAMLOOPS BLAZERS:

Overview:

The Kamloops Blazers are currently ranked second on the Western Conference and first in the B.C. Division. The Blazers are 27-10-1-2 through 40 games and are 5-2-0-0 this season against the Cougars.

Who’s Up Front:

The Kamloops Blazers can come at you in waves and they showed that again last night. Colin Smith led the way with a goal and an assist, and now has 20 goals on the season to lead the team. Smith leads the Blazers with 47 points through 40 games.

Who’s on D:

The game winner last night was scored by 20-yuear-old defenseman Bronson Maschmeyer. Maschmeyer has five goals now on the season and has 20 points through 40 games and is a +15.

Who’s in Goal:

Having posted back-to-back shutouts against Prince George, Cole Cheveldave is on a roll. Cheveldave is 19-5-1-2 with three shutouts. Cam Lanigan is his backup and could get the call. It all depends on the plan that Guy Charron and Dave Hunchak had in place for the weekend.

X-Factor:

Depth. It’s probably the largest contributing factor to the Blazers’ great record and it will need to continue to be strong if the Blazers want to make a strong push down the stretch. The Cougars need to maintain their defensive intensity no matter which trio of forwards are on the ice.

PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS

Overview:

The Prince George Cougars are 4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games and are still two points back of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Cougars have only scored one goal in their last three games and are looking to regain some of their offensive confidence tonight against Kamloops.

Who’s Up Front:

In his first game back from U-17’s, Chase Witala was probably the most consistent forward for the Cougars in last night’s game. Witala had his legs going and was not afraid to shoot the puck. He was rewarded late in the game with some ice-time alongside Troy Bourke and Daulton Siwak.

Who’s on D:

To a man the Cougars need to be faster and better defensively. During the post-game show last night, Dean Clark stressed the fact that he wants to see quicker passes and smarter decisions from his team in their own end. It’ll be important for the likes of Cody Carlson and Dan Gibb to lead the charge defensively and restore some swagger in the defensive zone.

Who’s in Goal:

Drew Owsley once again gave his team a chance to win the game and came up big stopping 42 of 44 shots faced. It’s not known yet whether Drew Owsley will get the call in net again tonight, but he’s certainly deserving of another start. Regardless of which goaltender goes tonight for Prince George, they’ll need some offensively help.

X-Factor:

The biggest key for the Cougars tonight will be to play to their strengths. They’ll need to be physical at both ends of the ice, and they’ll also need to go hard to the net and create as much traffic as possible in front of either Cole Cheveldave or Cam Lanigan. Getting a lead would also be a big boost for the Cougars, who are 11-5-0-1 when they score the first goal.