Lethbridge – In the final weekend of conference play before the semester break, the Lethbridge Pronghorn men's hockey team faces southern Alberta rival Calgary Dinos in a home-and-home series.
 
The weekend set kicks off Friday night in Lethbridge with the back half of the home-and-home series going Saturday night in Calgary. Puck drops Friday night at Nicholas Sheran Arena at 7:00pm. Saturday night at Father David Bauer Arena, game time is slated for 6:00pm. Both games will be streamed live on www.canadawest.tv.
 
"It's our last weekend of the first semester, so we have nothing to save it for," said Pronghorn head coach Spiros Anastas. "We're short bodies but we know we have a job to do in order to keep ourselves relevant in the standings heading into the break."
 
"The Dinos are a talented team that can score in bunches, we have to come to work in order to shut them down. We believe that our speed matches up against them well and if we stick to our process we can have the upper hand."
 
Earlier this season, the Pronghorns and Dinos split their weekend set with Calgary winning 4-1 at home, before the Pronghorns rebounded for a 2-1 overtime win in Lethbridge.
 
A look at the teams:
 
The Pronghorns (4-9-1-0) enter the weekend having won three of their last four games and moved within two points of the UBC Thunderbirds for the final playoff spot with 14 games to play.
 
Following an extended losing streak the Pronghorns swept the Manitoba Bisons at home before splitting their weekend set in Regina last weekend. The Pronghorns opened last weekend with a 6-2 win but lost the rematch 5-2 the next night.
 
Statistically, the Pronghorns have scored the fewest goals in Canada West with 34 but have scored four or more goals in three of the last four games.
 
Calgary (7-4-2-1) is coming off their second consecutive split weekend. Last weekend, the Dinos dropped a 3-2 decision in Manitoba to the Bisons, but rebounded the next day to shutout the Bisons 4-0.
 
Two weeks ago, the Dinos split their home series with the Regina Cougars.
 
At the mid-point of the season, Calgary has allowed the second fewest goals against in Canada West, only allowing 29 goals against in 14 games. Offensively, the Dinos are ranked third in Canada West with 43 goals scored.
 
Players to watch:
 
Captain Mitch Maxwell sits fifth in Canada West scoring with six goals and 12 assists and is within five points of 100 career points.
 
Fourth-year centre Justin Valentino enters the weekend on a three game point streak and sits second on the team in points with 12 and is tied with Maxwell for the team lead in goals with six.
 
Goaltender Garret Hughson has started the last four games and sits with a 4-5-1 record. He has a 3.71 goals against-average and a 0.898 save percentage.
 
Cain Franson and Chris Collins lead the Dinos attack, both sitting with 13 points. Franson has six goals and seven assists, but went pointless last weekend in Winnipeg. Collins sits second on the Dinos in goals (5) and assists (8).
 
In the crease Matthew Greenfield has seen action in nine game this season but freshman Jordan Papirny hasn't lost in regulation time in his five starts, including a 4-0 shutout of the Bisons last Saturday. Papriny holds a 1.40 GAA and a 0.948 save percentage.
 
Greenfield sits with a 2.40 GAA and a 0.922 save percentage.
 
Up Next:
The Pronghorns will return to conference action January 5^th and 6^th, hosting the Saskatchewan Huskies.