Riding a two-game winning streak, the University of Regina's men's hockey team returns to action this weekend with a pair of games against the Manitoba Bisons at the Communiskate Rink in Emerald Park. The teams will meet on Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m.

The Cougars earned a much-needed sweep over the Lethbridge Pronghorns last weekend, winning 2-0 and 5-2 to vault from seventh to fifth in the conference standings. Adam Ward returned from injury to record a 37-save shutout in his first start of the season on Friday, then added 17 more saves in Saturday's win.

All in their first season in a U of R uniform, Craig Cuthbert, Bryan Kauk, and Mark Nelson each had three-point weekends to lead the Cougars offensively. Nelson now has a team-leading six points in nine games played.

Ranked No. 6 in this week's CIS poll, Manitoba currently sits in third place in the conference with a 6-3-1 record. The Bisons had last weekend off after recording a two-game split at Alberta, including a 3-2 win over the Golden Bears on Oct. 30 which still stands as Alberta's lone regulation loss of the season.

Third-year forward Mike Hellyer has five goals and ten points to lead the Bisons in both categories through the first ten games of the season. Fourth-year goaltender Steve Christie has played nine of the team's ten games and sports a 2.32 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.

Manitoba and Regina played once during the non-conference schedule, with the Bisons recording a 3-2 win in Whitewood in mid-September. Last season, Manitoba won three of the four meetings between the two teams in the regular season, but the Cougars won two straight in the Canada West quarterfinals to knock the Bisons out of the playoffs. Manitoba holds a 91-60 advantage over Regina in the all-time regular season series, with 13 games ending in ties.

The Bisons will host Saskatchewan next weekend, while the Cougars will have a weekend off before returning to the ice against the Huskies on Nov. 27 and 28 in Saskatoon.