Lethbridge – With five weeks of conference action remaining, the Lethbridge Pronghorn men's hockey team is in a dog fight for a playoff spot and valuable points are on the line in a home-and-home series with provincial rival Mount Royal Cougars.

Heading into the weekend, the Pronghorns, Cougars and UBC Thunderbirds are tied for fourth with 17 points and the Calgary Dinos lurk on three points behind.

The Pronghorns and Cougars are set to clash Friday night in Calgary at the Flames Community Arena, while the back half of the home-and-home will go Saturday night at Nicholas Sheran Arena. Puck drops both nights at 7:00pm and both games will be streamed live on www.canadawest.tv.

Earlier this season, the Cougars swept the Pronghorns with wins of 6-2 in Lethbridge and 4-1 at home.

A Look at the Teams
The Pronghorns (8-9-1) opened the second semester with a weekend split with the nationally third ranked Saskatchewan Huskies. The Huskies edged the Pronghorns 3-2 Friday night before the Pronghorns rebounded with a 4-2 win the next night.

Entering the weekend, the Pronghorns have scored the second fewest goals in the conference with 48 and have allowed the third most with 70.

Specialty teams, the Pronghorns have the fourth ranked penalty killing (83.3%) and eighth ranked power play (17%).

Mount Royal (8-9-1) opened 2018 with a pair of wins over the last place Regina Cougars, beating the Cougars 8-2 and 4-2 but lost the four games prior.

Statistically, the Cougars sit in the middle of the pack in goals for and against, ranked fifth in goals for (53) and fourth in goals against (59).

However, their specialty teams are polar opposites, ranked tops in power play (20.8%) and last in penalty killing (73.7%).

Key Players
Captain Mitch Maxwell sits sixth in Canada West scoring with seven goals and 14 assists, while Justin Valentino sits second on the Pronghorns with six goals and seven assists.

Following a two goal weekend versus the Huskies, Connor Sanvido leads the Pronghorns in goals with 8.

Second-year goaltender Garret Hughson has started eight straight for the Pronghorns and holds a 3.30 goals-against average and a 0.911 save percentage. He stopped 71 of 76 shots he faced last weekend.

Freshman forward Brad Kennedy leads the Cougars in scoring with 18 points and is tied for the Canada West lead in goals with 12. He leads the conference in power play goals with 8.

Following a four goal game last Friday, defenceman Jesse Lees sits second in Cougar scoring with seven goals and eight assists.

Goaltender Cam Lanigan has started 10 straight games for the Cougars and sits with a 2.50 goals-against average.

Up Next
The Pronghorns will face another important weekend next week, traveling to Vancouver to face the UBC Thunderbirds.
 
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