Tonight in Everett the Prince George Cougars continue their five game road trip with their final meeting of the regular season against the Everett Silvertips, Known as one of the most intimidating rinks in the entire WHL, Everett will be no easy task for a struggling Cougars team who are looking to snap a modest two game losing streak.

OVERVIEW:

With a win last night at home against Portland, Everett now sits first overall in the US Division and the Eastern Conference. At 15-3-4-0, the Tips are rolling, and have gone seven straight games without a regulation loss. It seems like every team the Cougars play as of late is on a hot streak, and somehow the Cougars are going to need to find a way to shutdown a very structured Everett squad.

WHO’S UP FRONT:

With 39 points in 23 games, nobody on the Everett roster is hotter than 20-year-old forward Joshua Winquist. Last night Winquist had an 11 game point streak snapped. Over those 11 games, Winquist had nine goals and 18 assists.

WHO’S ON D:

Veteran defenceman Matt Pufahl has been a rock for the Silvertips on the backend. The former Saskatoon Blade is on a point-per-game pace for Everett with seven goals and 21 points. Four of Pufahl’s seven goals have come on the power play.

WHO’S IN GOAL:

After an injury sidelined him for a few weeks, Austin Lotz is back between the pipes for Everett and helped lead them to their win last night against Portland. Lotz is 10-2-1 this season with a goals-against-average of just 2.34 and a save percentage of .915. His backup is Daniel Cotton who has a 5-1-3 record and a 2.89 goals-against-average.

X-FACTOR:

The Everett Silvertips are a team loaded with offense, but what often gets overlooked is how steady they are defensively. Only the Kelowna Rockets have surrendered fewer goals in the Western Conference, which means that the Cougars are going to have to be opportunistic tonight when they get their offensive chances.

OVERVIEW:

Mark Holick’s Prince George Cougars played well for a large majority of last night’s game in Spokane. It was a five minute span in the third period which ultimately cost the Cougars two points. Having won just once in their past 10 games, the Cougars need to start grabbing some wins more consistently as they now find themselves outside of eighth place in the Western Conference. They are 1-1-0-1 this season in three games with Everett.

WHO’S UP FRONT:

Another game, and another goal for Todd Fiddler who has now recorded goals in three straight games for the Prince George Cougars, and eight points over those three games. Fiddler is doing his part, and now it’s up to the rest of the Cougars forwards to regain their scoring touch. They’ll need all hands on deck offensively tonight if they’re going to have success.

WHO’S ON D:

Last night in Spokane was one of the better defensive efforts in recent weeks for the Cougars who held Spokane to very few quality scoring chances throughout the 60 minutes. Unfortunately for the Cougars anytime they made a mistake, the Chiefs seemed to capitalize. Tonight the defense corps simply needs to stay the course and do the same types of things that allowed for them to be successful last night.

WHO’S IN GOAL:

Right now the Prince George Cougars need one of Ty Edmonds or Brett Zarowny to steal a game for them. Neither goaltender has performed up to par in recent weeks, and now is the time for one of them to regain their own personal confidence, along with the confidence of their coaches and their teammates. It should be Brett Zarowny getting the nod tonight after Edmonds went last night in Spokane.

X-FACTOR:

Special teams was once again a deterring factor in last night’s game for the Cougars who went zero-for-four on the power play, zero-for-one on the penalty kill and allowed their league high ninth shorthanded goal against. That won’t get the job done. The Cougars will need to figure out a way to be better in both areas as the middle part of the season continues. Hopefully the trend can start reversing tonight in Everett.