The Prince George Cougars will take the ice for their fourth time in five nights tonight when they face off against the Vancouver Giants for a third time this week. So far this week, the Cougars are 1-1 against Vancouver and 1-2 on the week as a whole. Last night the Cougars dropped a 5-2 decision to the Kamloops Blazers and will look to climb back to .500 tonight at the Pacific Coliseum.

VANCOUVER GIANTS

Overview:

Troy Ward’s Vancouver Giants come into tonight’s game with a 9-14 record which still has them ranked 10^th in the West and fifth in the B.C. Division. They’ve won three of their past 10 games overall, and to their coach’s own admission earlier this week, they’ve battled inconsistency all season long. Earlier this week they escaped with a 6-4 win in Prince George Tuesday before falling 6-1 to the same Cougars the next night. Last night they blew a 2-0 lead in a 6-2 loss to Regina.

Who’s Up Front:

The Vancouver Giants group of top six forwards can be as good as anybody in the WHL when they’re at their best. The top trio of Jackson Houck, Carter Popoff and Joel Hamilton are all around the point-per-game pace, while Matt Bellerive, Thomas Foster and Tyler Benson provide a nice compliment to the aforementioned three. This season Houck and Popoff have been particularly impressive against Prince George. Houck has 10 points in six games, while Popoff had goals in each of the two games in Prince George earlier this week.

Who’s On D:

Yesterday the Vancouver Giants completed a trade with the Tri-City Americans which saw them acquire young defenceman Josh Thrower (1997). Thrower won’t light the world on fire offensively, but he plays with an edge, and a toughness similar to his older brother (and former Giants captain) Dalton Thrower. Thrower should provide an ice compliment to an already tough blueline that features Mason Geertsen, Arvin Atwal and Shaun Dosanjh.

Who’s in Goal:

The tandem of Payton Lee and Cody Porter have seen their share of struggles in recent games. Payton Lee started last Tuesday in Prince George and got pulled in favor of Porter. Porter ended up winning Tuesday, which led to his start on Wednesday. Though Porter wasn’t pulled he did surrender six goals against ina 6-1 loss. Last night it was Lee’s turn, and again he didn’t make it through the entire game before being pulled in favor of Porter who also surrendered three goals against. Whoever gets the call tonight will be tasked with keeping the Cougar shooters at bay in what has often been a difficult place for the Cougars to play and win.

X-Factor:

In this case, the biggest factor for Vancouver might just be their home rink which has been an extremely difficult place for the Cougars to win games. In fact the Cougars have won just twice at the Pacific Coliseum since March of 2011. It’s hard to put your finger on it, because the Cougars always seem to play the Giants tough and aggressively at home. Here’s hoping that the Cougars can dig deep in a tough building, and put some of their PNE demons to bed here tonight.

PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS

Overview:

Mark Holick’s Prince George Cougars are 12-13 on the season, and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. They are 4-5 during their recent streak of consecutive games played against the B.C. Division. Last night in Kamloops the level of effort and execution wasn’t where it needed to be, considering how well the Cougars played earlier in the week against the Giants. Tonight against the same Vancouver Giants team, the Cougars will be tasked with replicating their effort from just three days ago. If they do that, they’ll put themselves into a really good spot tonight.

Who’s Up Front:

Despite a season full of peaks and valleys, one of the major constants for the Cougars in 2014-15 has been Jansen Harkins. The draft eligible forward added another goal and an assist to his totals last night, and leads the team with seven goals and 21 assists for 28 points. Big things are expected of Harkins on a nightly basis, and so far this season he’s taken very few (if any) games off. Tonight in his hometown rink, Harkins can hopefully make another solid impact in a winning effort tonight for Prince George.

Who’s on D:

To a man the Cougars struggled defensively last night in Kamloops. They had a very difficult time clearing their own zone, and turnovers often led to scoring chances against, which led to goals against. That said, earlier this week against the Giants the Cougars were awesome defensively, keeping the Giants shot totals to a respectable level on both nights. Consistency is the name of the game, and tonight the entire team will need to focus on shoring things up in their own end of the ice.

Who’s in Goal:

The Vancouver Giants have their goaltending struggles, as do the Prince George Cougars. 48 hours removed from one of his best starts, Ty Edmonds allowed five goals on 35 shots faced last night in a loss to the Kamloops Blazers. Former Giant Jared Rathjen is in a tricky spot because of the 20-year-old situation, and young rookie Tavin Grant had a tough night on Tuesday against Vancouver when he allowed four goals on 17 shots against. Like Vancouver, the Cougars need to find some consistency between the pipes. Could tonight be the night that one of these three get a hot streak started?

X-Factor:

The biggest factor tonight for the Cougars is going to be their level of urgency and compete. The coaching staff was not happy with the effort in last night’s game against Kamloops and the Cougars might have been rewarded justly with the loss. But today’s a new day, and an opportunity is available for the Cougars to get back on the right track in a tough building against a tough opponent. It’s an important game tonight for both teams, and hopefully the Cougars can embrace the challenge and come out with a solid effort against the Giants tonight.