It's time for the Prince George Cougars to emulate the roadrunner.
Instead of chasing their Western Hockey League opponents on the score board like the coyote chases roadrunner in Bugs Bunny cartoons, the Cougars (9-12-1-3) need to start running away from other teams, like tonight's visitors to CN Centre, they Victoria Royals (13-12-0-1).
In last Friday's 5-4 win in Victoria the Cougars opened up a 4-1 advantage and held on tight to earn the two points, but on their last visit to Kamloops the Cats fell 5-4 in a shootout despite holding a pair of leads, 2-0 and 4-3.
Cougars head coach Dean Clark said it's just a matter of playing a consistent game.
"It's just experience and making sure we're able to keep playing the same way that got us the lead," said Clark. "Our games have been close and we've been behind here quite a bit. We've got to get back to scoring first and playing with the lead and learning how to manage those things as best we can."
The Royals hold down sixth place in the western conference and sit five points ahead of the eighth-place Cougars meaning with a pair of wins the Cats can put themselves right back in the middle of the pack with Victoria and the red-hot Kelowna Rockets (16-8-1-1).
After moving within two points of the Royals with last Friday's win, the Cougars gave the points right back Saturday when Victoria scored with less than three minutes to play in regulation to earn the split.
Cougars associate captain Dan Gibb said the Royals received a fortuitous bounce on the winning goal adding the Cats need to be more opportunistic on their own chances.
The 20-year-old concurred with his coach about the Cougars playing the same game, either with or without the lead.
"I think that's where our youthfulness came in where we weren't used to playing with a lead," said Gibb. "I think we were trying to be too cautionary with the puck if that makes sense.
"Once we start to win a little more games here we'll realize we don't need to change anything," he added. "The biggest thing was we were trying to change our game on the fly, if we would've just kept it the way we were doing we would've been fine."
There's no better time for the Cougars to start a win streak. The two games with the Royals this weekend are the start of a period where the Cats play six of nine games at home and seven of nine games against B.C. division rivals.
After visits from the Moose Jaw Warriors next Tuesday and the Swift Current Broncos on Dec. 11, the Cougars won't face a non-B.C. team again until Jan. 8-9 when the head to Portland for two games with the Winterhawks.
"These are big wins that we need to have," said Gibb about the double dip against the Royals. "Both teams are going to be ready to battle and it's going to be a war trying to get these points."
The Royals should have defenceman Tyler Stahl back in the lineup. The 19-year-old missed last weekend's games while serving a two-game suspension. Meanwhile, the Cougars will be without defender Michael Mylchreest for tonight's game, as he's serving the second game of a two-game suspension picked up last Friday. Zach Pochiro (lower body) is out of the Cats lineup on a day-to-day basis while Troy Bourke (upper body) is close to returning after missing the last seven games. The 18-year-old practiced with the team for the first time Wednesday since sustaining the injury.
Clark said Mac Engel will likely be in the the Cougars' net for tonight's game.
Former Cat now a Raider
The Prince Albert Raiders picked up former Cougars forward Austin Daae on Thursday. The 19-year-old started the season playing for the Estevan Bruins in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League where he had notched five goals and 16 points. In 52 games with the Cougars last season, Daae had two goals and six points.
Cats collection
The Cougars are asking fans to bring hats, scarves and mitts to tonight's game in support of clients of the Canadian Mental Health Society. On Saturday, the Cougars are looking for unwrapped toys for children between three- and five-years-old which will be collected and distributed by the Child Development Centre.
