Cougars - Rockets Preview.

The Prince George Cougars are back home and will take to the ice for the third time in four nights tonight against Kelowna. The Cougars are 1-1 through their first two games this week having earned a 4-2 victory against Victoria Tuesday before falling 5-1 on Wednesday.



Overview:

The Kelowna Rockets come into tonight’s game 11 points ahead of Victoria for sixth in the Western Conference. The Rockets trail Vancouver by 11 points in the race for fifth place in the Western Conference. Kelowna is 22-23-2-4 and are 5-4-0-1 in their last 10 games.



Who’s Up Front:

Leading the way for the Kelowna Rockets offensively is 18-year-old forward Shane McColgan. The California product leads the Rockets with 49 points through 50 games. He’s a very shifty forward and is difficult to contain. He leads all Rockets with 36 assists this season.



Who’s on D:

18-year-old defenceman Myles Bell leads all Kelowna defencemen with 25 points through 35 games. Bell has scored nine goals this season – Seven of which have come on the man advantage. Bell did not play in the three most recent meetings between these teams.



Who’s in Goal:

The Prince George Cougars have seen Adam Brown in all five games this season featuring these two teams. Brown is 16-18-0-2 this season and has a goals against of 3.31 and a save percentage of .894. Brown is backed up by 18-year-old Jordan Cooke who is 6-5-2-2 this season with a 2.76 goals against average and a save percentage of .915 this season.



X-Factor:

The Kelowna Rockets have received strong contributions lately from draft-eligible forward Colton Scissons. Scissons has tallied eight points in his past eight games and leads the Rockets in goals with 26 this season. Scissons is one of two players who has played in every game this season for Kelowna.





Overview:

The Prince George Cougars are heading into their third game in four nights tonight. For the first time since mid-November the Cougars meet with the Kelowna Rockets. The Cougars are coming off a split with the Victoria Royals earlier this week and are 3-7-0-0 in their last 10 games overall. The Cougars come into tonight’s game four points back of eighth placed Seattle in the Western Conference.



Who’s Up Front:

No Cougar is hotter than Greg Fraser. Fraser has four points in his past three games, and seems to be playing with some strong confidence at this point. Fraser is tied for the team lead in goals with 13, and will hope to keep his streak alive tonight against Kelowna.



Who’s on D:

Defensively the Cougars will once again need to rely on the likes of Jesse Forsberg, Reid Jackson, Ricard Blidstrand and Cody Carlson to eat up some minutes. Marc McNulty remains with the team and will also be available this weekend on the blueline along with Linden Springer/Michael Mylchreest. Ricard Blidstrand is in the midst of a two-game point streak.



Who’s in Goal:

Drew Owsley was recently named the Prince George Cougars player of the month for January. Owsley made 11 starts and went 3-8-0-0 during the month. More importantly than the record was the fact that Owsley faced 40 or more shots in six of his 11 starts, and finished with a save percentage of .906. Owsley is backed up by 17-year-old Devon Fordyce who holds a record of 1-5-0-1 this season.



X-Factor:

The Prince George Cougars will have Campbell Elynuik back in the lineup tonight after he served out his five-game suspension. Elynuik provides size, and experience and has some offensive skill as well that is often over-looked. It will be important for Elynuik to play to his strengths, and find ways to be effective for the Cougars.