The Portage Islanders' home opener is tonight against Altona at the PCU Centre.

They opened their South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League Season with a win last week over Notre Dame and needed overtime to get it done. Defenseman Dan McArthur says if they tighten up defensively they shouldn't have trouble closing out teams in regulation.

"We need to make sure we aren't cheating to score goals and having our high forward coming back and backchecking, putting the pressure on the guys coming in. Just really making sure we've got our checks in the defensive zone."

McArthur says they Maroons had a strong club last year, and it hasn't changed much over the off-season.

"We expect it will be another good game against them. They're usually a fairly physical team, and they're not easy to play against. So we're going to have to come ready to play, and make sure we're doing the things we need to do to get another win."

The Islanders have released a Home Game Ticket Package that can be purchased for the year. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. tonight, head down for information on ticket packages.