Cats look to return to winning ways

The Prince George Cougars will try to steer out of a two-game losing skid and hold onto their B.C. Division lead when they take on the Red Deer Rebels tonight at CN Centre.

With their slumping play of late (4-5-0-1 in their past 10 games) the Cougars need the two points to help them stay ahead of the Kamloops Blazers for first place in the division. The Blazers and Cats both have 61 games in the books and Kamloops is now just two points off P.G.’s pace. The Blazers could put themselves on equal footing with the Cats if they beat the Edmonton Oil Kings tonight at Sandman Centre in Kamloops.

For the Cougars (38-19-3-1), winning against the Rebels is far from a guarantee. In the most recent meeting between the clubs, Jan. 27 in Red Deer, the Rebels skated to a 5-2 victory.

Red Deer (23-27-6-4) hasn’t been on a roll lately either. The Rebels are just 1-6-2-1 in their past 10 games and are coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Giants Saturday in Langley. The Rebels currently hold the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Central Division.

The Cougars, meanwhile, are back home after weekend losses in Kelowna and Kamloops. They fell 5-2 to the Rockets on Saturday night and were blanked 3-0 by the Blazers on Sunday.

Against Kelowna, Colby McAuley scored both goals for the Cats, his 21st and 22nd of the season. In that one, the Rockets broke a 1-1 first-period tie with three goals in the second period and scored an empty-netter shortly before the final buzzer. The Cougars surrendered 42 shots and managed 27. Nick McBride took the loss in goal.

Against the Blazers, Prince George shooters couldn’t solve netminder Connor Ingram, who made 28 saves. Kamloops, meanwhile, got goals from Colin Shirley, Rudolfs Balcers and Garrett Pilon. The Blazers fired 42 shots at Cougars goalie Ty Edmonds, who has now lost five consecutive starts and eight of his last 10. Edmonds is still stuck on 95 career wins in a Prince George jersey, tied for the franchise lead with Scott Myers.

After tonight, the Cougars will play Friday and Saturday home games against the Oil Kings.