Cowichan Valley Capitals - Powered By esportsdesk.com

Duncan, BC - Hot off the heels of a gutsy come from behind win in Nanaimo Wednesday the Cowichan Capitals look to make it three straight wins on the road visiting the Bulldogs in Port Alberni tonight.

The 17-12-2-3 Capitals enter tonight alone in second place in the Island division, six points back of the leading Clippers but just two up on the Powell River Kings who have three games in hand. And while Cowichan is a full ten points ahead of the 13-18-2-1 Bulldogs who are currently holding down last place in the Island, both teams have been looking for consistency over the past several weeks. The Caps are 4-4-1-1 in the last ten games while the Bulldogs have gone 3-6-1. And while the Capitals are riding high after Wednesday's win over Nanaimo you can bet the Bulldogs are a fiesty bunch after suffering a 7-0 loss at home to Victoria last night.

The final road game prior to the Christmas break, the Capitals will have to battle through until then without a couple key pieces. Ryan Burton remains out due to illness while fellow centre Luke Santerno will miss his first game of the season after suffering an upper body injury Wednesday night. Affiliate forward Ben Berard will dress in his second straight game.

Last night's shutout loss for the Bulldogs is indicative of the team's struggles on offence. With just 97 goals so far this season, the team is the third lowest scoring team in the BCHL with a division worst goal differential of -33. While the Capitals' offence has slowed slightly, goals have been coming from other sources who have been stepping up in the absence of the likes of Burton and Carter Cochrane. Two of the Caps' four goals Wednesday came from the blue line with Ben Verrall scoring his second of the season and Connor Russell scoring his second in as many games. Rookie forward Kyle Topping also chipped in with his third while Matt Hudie got his 14th as he continues to roll along now with five points in his last six games. Hudie's 14 tallies ties him with Pat Geary and Adam Osczevski for the team lead in goals while Kade Kehoe's 34 points leads all Capitals.

Tonight marks the fourth meeting of the season between the Caps and Bulldogs and the second in Port Alberni. Cowichan has taken points in all three previous meetings, the only loss suffered in overtime in Alberni back on October 10th.

Puck drop tonight at Weyerhaeuser Arena is 7:00pm with pre-game on 89.7 Juice FM at 6:45.