The Prince George Cougars will look for a much better defensive effort when they face the Kootenay Ice tonight in Cranbrook.

The Cougars are coming off a 7-5 home-ice setback to the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday, a game in which they lost too many battles for the puck and didn't pay enough attention to detail in the neutral zone or inside their own blueline. The Rockets made them pay the price and managed to split the weekend doubleheader. The Cats had beaten Kelowna 6-3 on Friday.

In the Western Hockey League, the Cougars sit third in the B.C. Division and fourth in the Western Conference with a record of 4-1-1-0. They trail the first-place Victoria Royals (6-2-0-0) and the second-place Kamloops Blazers (5-0-0-1).

The Ice, meanwhile, have struggled to a 1-4-0-0 record in their first five games. They sit last in the Central Division and Eastern Conference.

The Cougars will also be in Lethbridge on Friday and Medicine Hat on Saturday.