Lethbridge – After two weekends of conference action the Lethbridge Pronghorn men’s hockey team (0-3-1 CW) is still searching for its first conference win of the 2012-13 season. The Horns will travel Vancouver to face the UBC Thunderbirds (2-1-1 CW) for a pair of games.
 
Offensively challenged thus far this season, the ‘Horns have also struggled with consistency in their play and last Saturday night was a perfect example. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the ‘Horns battled back to tie the score at two only to see the game slip away in the third and lose 5-2 to the Regina Cougars.
 
In four games the ‘Horns have averaged exactly two goals a game for a total of 8 goals scored while allowing twice as many goals against. Even though the tandem of Dylan Tait and Damien Ketlo has allowed the second most goals against in the conference, Tait ranks third in the conference in save percentage with a 0.921%.
 
Despite the struggles offensively, first-year Pronghorn Chase Schaber has been a bright spot for the ‘Horns and leads the team in scoring with two goals and three assists. His five points also ranks him second among freshman scoring leaders in Canada West.
 
On the other side, the Thunderbirds have had a win one-lose one start to the season. After splitting their weekend series with the Cougars the week before, the T-Birds had an impressive come from behind victory over the CIS #7 ranked Calgary Dinos last Friday. Trailing by a goal, the Thunderbirds scored three times in the third to win 4-2. Holding true to their form from the previous week, the Thunderbirds lost the next night 7-4, after giving up five goals in the third period.
 
While the Thunderbirds have given up the most goals in the conference with 17, they have also scored the second most with 16 and have 10 players that have scored at least one goal.
 
A deciding factor in this weekend’s series could be the play of specialty teams. The ‘Horns enter the weekend with the conference’s top penalty killing unit, killing off more than 94% of the team’s penalties but will get a test this weekend; UBC has the top ranked power play scoring on 37.5% of their opportunities. The ‘Horns power play is ranked 7^th, while the T-Birds have the worst penalty killing in Canada West (76.5%).
 
Puck drops both nights in Vancouver at At UBC’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sport Centre at 7:00pm PST. Friday night’s game will be radio broadcast by CiTR 101.9 FM and can be listened to tuning live into 101.9 FM or www.citr.ca. Live stats can also be found at: http://www.leaguestat.com/canadawest/mens/en/stats/schedule.php?season_id=30
 
 
 
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