The Portage Islanders start their best-of-7 South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League semi-final with first place Carman tonight.

The Islanders knocked off Winkler in their opening series 3 games to 1, closing out the series at the PCU Centre. They now face the top seeded Carman, who only lost 3 games this season. The good news is the Islanders hold one of those wins over the Beavers, and GM Jeremy Brooks is looking forward to the series.

"Definitely, whenever you're playing the first place team it's not going to be easy, and you can't expect that. We're really looking forward to the challenge, and I think we're definitely a team that can compete with them."

Brooks says if they can continue to find the back of the net early, they should be successful.

"Our scoring has always been our top thing all year, and it's carried through the playoffs. If we can really come out early on them, and be able to get a few pucks passed Christie, it can really change the outcome of the series."

Due to the All Nations Tribal Days at the PCU Centre this weekend, Carman will have back-to-back home games to open the series. Brooks says it's a long series, but stealing a victory on the road would be a huge boost.

"If we can get a win, and we can split their home-at-home, then come back to Portage with one win it would really set us up for the rest of the series."

Game 1 starts at 8 in Carman.