The Portage Terriers will take to the ice tonight. They will be on the road facing the Virden Oil Capitals. It's the second meeting of the season between the two teams with the Terriers taking the first game by a score of 7-5 just over a week ago. The Dogs are looking to get back to their winning ways, they lost their last outing when they fell to the Steinbach Pistons. The Oil Capitals are also looking to pick up a win as they are currently on a four-game losing skid dating back to the first week of October.

Terrier forward Reilly Funk says they need to work on getting pucks deep in the zone and outworking the Oil Caps to make chances happen.

"The puck is moving between us right now," says Funk. "When we get in on the forecheck and the pucks get deep, they can't handle our pressure. We're big boys and we have speed. Once we take it to the net we can finish it. That's what we have to do against Virden and we look forward to it because we need to get back in the win column."

Defenceman Owen Murray says hard work will be the key to picking up a win.

"We need to stay on the same page," says Murray. "Everybody needs to work together and put a good effort in and get it all to come together."

Tale of the Tape

Record
Portage Terriers 9-3-0
Virden Oil Capitals 2-5-1-3

Special Teams
Portage sits in first place overall with a power play at the 27.7% mark. The Dogs' penalty kill will need to be stronger as they have given up a number of power goals recently. Their PK has allowed 12 goals in their past five games which puts them at a 50%. Their overall mark is eighth in the league at 76.4%. Virden has the third-ranked power play that is clicking at 23.1%. Their penalty kill is third in the league at 85.7%.

Team Leaders
Terriers - Ty Barnstable 7G 7A 14Pts.
Oil Capitals - Hunter Cloutier 4G 5A 9Pts.

Goaltenders
Terriers - Nathan Moore .873 save percentage and 3.23 GAA.
Oil Capitals - Dalton Dosch .895 save percentage and 2.82 GAA.

The Terriers need a strong performance from the special teams units to get a victory in this one. They are playing well defensively but their goaltending is just giving up too many goals. The offence is clicking at a high pace but the Dogs will need help on the back end in order to get the win tonight. Virden is a much better team than their record indicates and will be a good test for Portage after losing to Steinbach last week. The Terriers will pick up the win if they can get a strong performance from their penalty kill and goaltenders. Game time is 7:00 pm in Virden.