The Prince George Cougars wrap up 2014 with three road games.
After a nine-day holiday break, the Cougars are in Victoria tonight and Sunday to battle the Royals, their WHL Western Conference rivals.
Prince George then travels to Kelowna for a contest against the Rockets on Dec. 30.
The pair of games on Vancouver Island this weekend will be the third and fourth times the B.C. Division rivals will meet.
The Royals sit second in the division at 17-17-2-1 with 37 points and are 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 games. The Cougars are right behind them in third place at 17-18 with 34 points.
So far, the season series is tied at 1-1.
The teams last met in Prince George Nov. 7-8. The Cats won the first game 3-2, but the Royals rebounded with a 6-2 triumph.
This weekend the Cougars hope to snap a three-game losing streak they endured before the Christmas break, thanks to consecutive losses to the Spokane Chiefs. The skid came after they posted four victories.
The Royals will be without their head coach, Dave Lowry, who's serving as an assistant on the bench with Team Canada at the world junior championship in Montreal and Toronto.
The Cougars' road trip continues Jan. 2 when they visit Vancouver and wraps up with another stop in Kelowna Jan. 3.
Their next home game at CN Centre is on Jan. 6 when the Tri-City Americans visit for a two-game series.
