Men's Hockey | 1/12/2016 2:44:00 PM
FRIDAY: vs. Lethbridge, 7 p.m., The Co-operators Centre.
SATURDAY: vs. Lethbridge, 3 p.m., The Co-operators Centre.
The University of Regina men's hockey team is at home for the second consecutive weekend, as the Cougars will host the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Friday and Saturday.
The Cougars and Pronghorns have met for a weekend series once this season, as the Cougars travelled to Lethbridge and pounded the host team 7-4 and 8-4. That weekend matchup, which saw Cougar forwards
J.J. Coleshaw and
Ian McNulty record hat tricks on back-to-back nights, makes up two of Regina's four wins on the season.
"We got some bounces that we haven't really seen this year last time we played them, but we were relentless offensively and attacked them both nights for 60 minutes," head coach
Todd Johnson recalls. "They also scored on us quite a bit so you can't forget about that, but hopefully our offense has the same mindset."
Lethbridge (6-11-1) was riding a four-game winning streak heading into the matchup with the Cougars but has failed to win since. The Pronghorns remain five points and one spot ahead of Regina in the Canada West standings.
Regina is coming off a pair of home losses against the Calgary Dinos last weekend, falling 6-2 and 3-1 to the sixth-place Dinos.
Brock Appleyard (pictured) and
Miguel Pereira found the net in Friday's loss before
Zach McPhee netted his first of the season on Saturday.
Mitch Kilgore was the starting goaltender both nights, making 39 saves in total.
Dawson MacAuley saw a period of action on Friday, making four saves on six shots.
"I thought we played well on Saturday and it'll be a similar approach this weekend," Johnson added. "We had a lot of hits and played physically, we just didn't capitalize on our chances so we'll look to take advantage of those."
Coleshaw, Pereira and
Cody Fowlie are tied for the team lead in points through 18 games, each with nine. McNulty has scored a team-high seven goals while
Mark Schneider and
Troy Hunter have been solid on offense, each with three goals and five assists to their credit.
The Cougars continue to cycle goaltenders through the rotation, with Kilgore making 11 appearances and MacAuley (eight games) and
Andy Desautels (four games) also seeing action. Desautels, a rookie goaltender out of White City, stopped 38 shots to collect his first Canada West win in the Cougars' 7-4 win over Lethbridge on Nov. 20.
Leading the attack for Lethbridge are Brandon Clowes and Mitchell Maxwell, each with 15 points in 18 games. Clowes has six goals and Maxwell has found the net four times, while Tim Campbell leads the 'Horns with nine goals.
Dylan Tait has been the main feature between the pipes for Lethbridge, registering a .914 save percentage in 13 showings and sporting a 4-8-1 record. Damien Ketlo has posted a 2-3-0 record in his seven appearances to go along with a .889 save percentage.
