Men's Hockey | 11/2/2016 12:05:00 PM

FRIDAY: vs. Alberta, 7 p.m., The Co-operators Centre
SATURDAY: vs. Alberta, 7 p.m., The Co-operators Centre

The University of Regina men's hockey team is back on home ice this weekend for a matchup with the No.5-ranked Alberta Golden Bears.

The Cougars (1-5-0) are in the midst of a five-game skid after opening the 2016-17 Canada West campaign with a 2-1 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Regina suffered a pair of losses last weekend in a home-and-home set with the Saskatchewan Huskies, falling 4-1 at home on Friday night before Saskatchewan snuck away with a 4-3 win on Saturday.

J.J. Coleshaw and Landon Peel have four points apiece to lead the way for the Cougars. Tristan Frei had a goal and an assist in Saturday's loss, so he, Dillan McCombie and Isaac Schacher are each up to three points on the season.

Andy Desautels (pictured) has appeared in all six games in net for the Cougars, making five starts. The second-year netminders has posted a 3.39 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage so far.

Alberta enters into the weekend tied for second in the Canada West standings with a 4-2-0 record. The Golden Bears are coming off a weekend sweep of the seventh-ranked Mount Royal Cougars, taking both games by a score of 4-2 to hand MRU their first two losses of the young Canada West schedule.

Jamie Crooks leads the conference in scoring to this point, notching seven goals and four assists in six games. Jayden Hart (5G, 3A), Stephane Legault (1G, 6A), Tyson Baillie (3G, 3A) and Luke Philp (3G, 3A) have also had strong offensive starts to the season for the Golden Bears.

Alberta has worked in a three-man rotation in between the pipes, with Kenny Cameron playing in three games while Luke Siemens and rookie Brendan Burke have seen action in two. Siemens has two wins with a .935 save percentage, while Burke and Cameron each sport a 1-1 record.

The Golden Bears took all four games from the Cougars a season ago.

Both Friday's and Saturday's games will face off at 7 p.m. at The Co-operators Centre.