It’s official.  The Prince George Cougars are out of lifelines. After dropping their first three games to the Seattle Thunderbirds in their first round playoff series, they now face four consecutive must-win situations starting tonight at home. A victory for the Cougars forces a fifth game Friday in Seattle while a loss officially ends their season. Tonight, it’s all about pride and it’s all about banding together to try and keep this season going as long as possible. You’re not going to win four games in one night, so the mindset has to focus on success tonight, and tonight alone. Let’s breakdown the matchup:

SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS

Overview:

• Head Coach: Steve Konowalchuk
• Series Record: 3-0
• Road Playoff Record: 1-0
• Streak: 5W dating back to the regular season.
• PP: 1/14 (7.1%)
• PK: 13/15 (86.6%)

Who’s Up Front:

• CAVIN LETH led the charge for Seattle in Game 3 with two goals, both of which came in the third period.
• NICK HOLOWKO contributed a goal and an assist, both of which came in the first period.
• KEEGAN KOLESAR is facing suspension after his second period hit from behind on Sam Ruopp.

Who’s on D:

• ETHAN BEAR had two assists and was a +2 for Seattle in Game 3. He leads all T-Bird defenders with three points in the series.
• JARED HAUF and TURNER OTTENBREIT are both a +5 in the series.

Who’s in Goal:

• LANDON BOW is 3-0 in the series and is coming off a 27 save shutout a night ago. For the series he’s got a save percentage of .956 with a .94 goals-against-average.

X-Factor(s):

• SCOTT EANSOR hasn’t set the world on fire offensively but he’s been arguably the top two-way player in the series. He’s defended well, killed penalties and has used his speed and smarts to his success. He’s got a goal and an assist in the series.
• MENTAL TOUGHNESS is important tonight. They’ve got the Cougars on the ropes and now they need to dig even deeper to knock in that final nail to close the series.

PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS

Overview:

• Head Coach: Mark Holick
• Playoff Record: 0-3
• Series Home Record: 0-1
• Streak: 8L dating back to the regular season.
• PP: 2/15 (13.3%)
• PK:  (92.8 %)

Who’s Up Front:

• CHASE WITALA and LUKE HARRISON are 20-years-old. Do you think they want this to be their final junior hockey game ever? Look for these two to lead the charge in their respective roles. WITALA of course will need to provide offense, while HARRISON will need to bring the energy.
• JANSEN HARKINS leads all Cougars with three points in three games in the series.

Who’s on D:

• JOE CARVALHO is the third 20-year-old on this Cougars team. Similar to his teammates mentioned above, you can bet that he’s not prepared to make this his final junior hockey game ever. He’ll play a ton tonight along with TATE OLSON as the Cougars will need to the fill the void left by their captain SAM RUOPP who won’t play tonight because of an injury sustained in the second period of last night’s game. The odds are good that both LUKA ZORKO and MAX MARTIN will draw into the lineup tonight and will make their playoff debuts.

Who’s in Goal:

• TY EDMONDS was pulled last night after allowing three goals on nine shots faced, but has shown all season that he’s able to bounce back positively after tough outings. For the series his goals-against-average is 3.52 with a .913 save percentage. Odds are that EDMONDS gets the nod tonight to start Game 4.
• NICK McBRIDE made 22 saves on 24 shots faced in relief last night and looked strong doing it. It was encouraging to see that McBRIDE was able to enter the game and keep his team within striking distance with some big saves in the late stages of the second period.

X-Factor(s):

• PRIDE. Last night’s effort at home was simply not good enough, in all areas of the game. This Cougars team has accomplished some great things in 2015-16, and it’s important for the entire roster to rally together tonight to make sure that they aren’t just going to fade into the night quietly. PRIDE right now is the huge factor for these Cougars as they head into their first elimination game of the 2016 playoffs.