On game nights at CN Centre the puck drops just after 7 p.m.
Perhaps the Prince George Cougars need a reminder. Captain Sam Ruopp admits his team was missing in action at the start of both their games against the Tri-City Americans.
The Cougars found themselves playing catchup both nights and while they recovered their senses in time to salvage an 8-4 win Tuesday, despite a strong third-period push in Wednesday's rematch they were unable to overcome the Americans and lost 5-3.
Now facing a two-game test in Victoria tonight and Saturday against a tough Royals team, the Cougars know they can't afford to fall behind early and pin their hopes on a comeback.
"We came out both games pretty slow and we have to find a way to get going early in the game," said Ruopp. "I think we should have won this game, especially without [the Americans] having [Canada's world junior goalie Eric] Comrie in net. We have to learn from this and put it behind us."
The Cougars fired 21 shots at the Americans' net in the third period Wednesday but scored on just one of them. They scored five unanswered goals in the third period to beat the Americans Tuesday.
"I liked how we finished both games, we had a lot of jump at the end and I loved how we kept battling and didn't give up," said Ruopp. "I like where we're heading and we have to keep pushing for the playoffs."
Right now, the Cougars are in a playoff position, ranked third in the B.C. Division with a 20-22-0-0 record, but they are feeling the heat from the fourth-place Vancouver Giants (18-20-1-1), who are just two points behind them and have two games in hand.
The Cougars were down to five defencemen Wednesday and two of them - Josh Anderson and Shane Collins - are rookies. They couldn't use Marc McNulty. He was traded that day to Kamloops. Josh Connolly, the player they got in return, wasn't able to make it to Prince George in time for Wednesday's game but he will be in the lineup tonight in Victoria.
The Americans took advantage of some rookie mistakes and goalie Ty Edmonds, who had been playing well, was not at his best in the Cougars' cage.
"It was frustrating, we had a game with five D and had to get through it and I thought two of three veteran defencemen weren't good, and we had the second-best goalie on the ice [Wednesday]," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick. "We need to be better in those types of situations.
"We had opportunities to score and missed nets and we had a chance to get three or four goals early. Our slow starts are a huge concern and that comes down to our leadership group. We had a chance to get back and we didn't do it. It was too little too late. Why didn't we start the game with 21 shots in the first period?"
The Cougars will be without their world junior connection - 19-year-old forward David Soltes. Soltes, who scored for Slovakia in a 4-2 win over Sweden in the bronze medal game, suffered a lower-body injury in that game Monday and won't play this weekend.
The Cats are also missing 19-year-old defenceman Tomas Andrlik, who they picked up in a trade Monday from Prince Albert. Andrlik, a native of Plze, Czech Republic, has a sprained ankle and won't likely play until the Everett series at CN Centre, Jan. 20-21. Defenceman Kirk Bear (lower-body injury) also did not make the trip.
Tonight's game marks the return of Royals defenceman Joe Hicketts, who helped Canada win gold at the world juniors, while head coach Dave Lowry was an assistant on the team.
The Royals will be sporting a few new faces, one of whom is familiar to Cougar fans. Centre Alex Forsberg was traded Tuesday from the Saskatoon Blades to Victoria. Forsberg, who turned 20 on Sunday, played two-and-a-half seasons with the Cougars after being picked first overall in the 2010 WHL bantam draft. He was the Blades' leading scorer this season with 33 points in 36 games, including 13 goals.
"Alex is a good player and he's always been smart so that will be a good challenge for us," said Ruopp. "Victoria's a good team so we'll have to be ready."
The Royals also picked up 19-year-old goalie Justin Paulic and 18-year-old import defenceman Alexey Sleptsov in a trade with Moose Jaw that sent forward Axel Blomquist to the Warriors.
