The Portage Islanders could jump solely into 2nd place in the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League tonight with a win over Morden.

The Islanders have a record of 9-6 -- and are tied for second with Winkler at 18 points -- who sit at 9-7. Morden is 2 points back of Portage with 16 points, and with a win would set up a 3-way tie for second. Islander' GM Jeremy Brooks gives a brief description of the importance of tonight's game.

"Our season series with Morden is split so far, so it'd be nice to take the season series on them too. It's a pretty tight race all the way, and I think if we can get that number 2 spot that would really help us out. The next few games against these top end teams are going to be really important for us."

After tonight, the Islanders are off until Friday the 29th, and Brooks says ice time's are few and far between.

"It's not always easy to get on the ice when you have a lot of guys doing a lot of different things as far as work and other activities. It's hard to get together, so getting a win would really help carry us through these 9 or so days off."

Portage and Morden are set to face-off at 8 p.m. in Morden