Today the Prince George Cougars wrap up their three-game Alberta road trip with a Sunday afternoon matchup with the defending WHL champs, the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Cougars are 1-1 so far on their current road trip, and are looking to keep pace with Seattle and Everett with some points in today’s game.

OVERVIEW:

At 30-11-2-3 the Edmonton Oil Kings currently sit third in the Eastern Conference, but just one point shy of first place behind Calgary. Edmonton has dropped two consecutive games, but are 7-3 overall in their last 10.

WHO’S UP FRONT:

It could easily be argued that no team in the WHL has the offensively depth of the Edmonton Oil Kings. Michael St. Croix, Dylan Wruck, TJ Foster and Henrik Samuelson have combined for 199 points up front. Add the likes of Trevor Cheek, and Curtis Lazar, and this Oil Kings team can strike at a moments notice, and often.

WHO’S ON D:

As impressive as their forward corps can be, their defense is equally as consistent. New York Islanders prospect Griffin Reinhart leads a star-studded cast that also includes: David Musil, Martin Gernat, Keegan Lowe and Cody Corbett. With that type of depth, it’s no wonder why the Oil Kings have surrendered the second least amount of goals (103) in the league.

WHO’S IN GOAL:

In addition to strong offense and defense, the Oil Kings have two extremely capable goaltenders that give them a chance to win on a daily basis. 19-year-old Flames prospect Laurent Brossoit is 19-6-2-3 with a .919 save percentage and a goals-against-average of 2.28. His younger backup Tristan Jarry has equally (if not more) impressive numbers this season, with a .934 save percentage, and a goals-against-average of 1,70.

X-FACTOR:

In case you didn’t already feel like the Oil Kings had the total package, their special teams numbers are the icing on the cake. Not only do the Oil Kings boast the top power play in the WHL (26.2 percent), but they also have the league’s best penalty kill with a success rate of 91.4 percent.

OVERVIEW:

Dean Clark’s Prince George Cougars are coming off a 3-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels last night. They are 2-6-1-1 in their last 10 games, and are currently three points back of eighth placed Seattle in the Western Conference playoff race. So far this season the Cougars are 0-2 against Edmonton dropping two 4-2 decisions in early November.

WHO’S UP FRONT:

Rookie forward Zach Pochiro is playing some of his best hockey for the Prince George Cougars. Pochiro has goals in back-to-back games, and currently leads all Cougars rookies with seven goals and 17 points. Pochiro, along with Jordan Tkatch and Jarrett Fontaine have turned into a very reliable line for the Cougars at both sides of the ice.

WHO’S ON D:

After last night’s win, Dean Clark was quick to praise the collective efforts of his defensemen. Leading the way was captain Dan Gibb who scored his second of the season, which proved to be the game winner. As huge as Gibb was offensively, he was even better in his own end. The Cougars are going to need all hands on deck defensively and then some today if they want to snatch some points from Edmonton.

WHO’S IN GOAL:

A tough decision today for the Cougars who have no shortage of confidence in either Mac Engel or Brett Zarowny. Engel made 31 saves on 32 shots faced yesterday in the Cougars 3-1 win, and could be in line for a second straight start. That said, Brett Zarowny is from the Edmonton area, and has put together a string of impressive games from December on. Regardless of who gets the call, the Cougars goaltender might need to steal one.

X-FACTOR:

The normally very disciplined Cougars have taken 12 minor penalties in two games so far on this trip. While the penalty kill has killed off 11 of those chances, they cannot afford to take six penalties again today. Given Edmonton’s strength on special-teams, the Cougars are going to need to focus on matching them five-on-five. If the Cougars can grab an early lead and then stay disciplined, they’ll put themselves in a position to head back to Prince George with some more points.