The University of Regina Cougars will try to deal the UBC Thunderbirds their first regulation loss this weekend as the two teams meet in Canada West men's hockey games on Friday and Saturday at The Co-operators Centre.

The Cougars settled for a weekend split last weekend in Winnipeg after their 6-1 victory over then-No. 3 Manitoba was followed up by a 5-1 loss to the conference-leading Bisons on Saturday.

Friday's victory featured a pair of goals by Brett Leffler and singles from Craig Cuthbert, Joel Kot, Matt Strueby, and Terrance DeLaronde and 34 saves by rookie goaltender Lucas Gore. The Cougars were deadly on the power play in the win, converting on four of their eight opportunities with the man advantage.

DeLaronde scored Regina's lone goal on Saturday and the third-year forward is now mired in an eight-way tie for the Canada West lead with four goals on the season. DeLaronde, Strueby, and Lucas Isley are all tied for the team lead with five points through the first six games of the season. Goalies Lucas Gore and A.J. Whiffen split the first two weekends of the Canada West schedule, but Gore got both starts last weekend at Manitoba.

UBC is tied with Calgary for fourth place in the Canada West standings, but have only played a conference-low four games so far. UBC has a win and a shootout loss against both Calgary and Lethbridge and have yet to trail at the end of regulation.

Third-year forward Max Grassi is tied for third in the conference with a team-high seven points for UBC, while Jordan White and rookie Steven Stanford (Saskatoon Blades) have split the netminding duties thus far.

The two teams will also meet on Jan. 13 and Jan. 14 at UBC.

NOTES: Cougar goalies Lucas Gore and A.J. Whiffen both got their new masks this week ... Gore's new mask features Cougar skulls on both sides, while Whiffen's features the Hanson brothers of Slap Shot lore ... the Cougars enter the weekend with a 53-41-11 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams.