Weekend Preview: Clan hit road needing big weekend to close gap on leaders

Simon Fraser University has been staring up at Trinity Western and Selkirk College in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League standings for the better part of three months, but they'll have an opportunity to close that gap beginning Friday in Cheney.

The Clan currently sit third behind the Spartans and Saints but hold three games in hand on league-leading TWU and two on second place Selkirk. making the most of those games could very well make it a three-way race for home ice advantage in the BCIHL playoffs come March.

SFU has started 2018 on a hot streak, winning four of five games including a pair against both VIU and UVic. Those wins have solidified the team's playoff positioning and brought them within striking distance of the two teams above them.

A big part of the Clan's recent success can be attributed to improved team defence. In their four January wins, SFU has allowed an average of just 21.5 shots per game in front of Lyndon Stanwood, and the 2017 BCIHL MVP has done his part by giving up six goals in total. That's a significant departure from the fall semester, where they allowed 35 goals in 11 games and gave up four or more on five occasions.

Offensively, SFU can be thankful for the reemergence of 2016/17 scoring leader Brendan Lamont. After picking up six points in 11 contests prior to the league's holiday break, the 23-year old has caught fire to the tune of four goals and eight points in five games.

On Friday, the Clan will come up against an EWU squad that is coming perilously close to being eliminated from contention for a BCIHL playoff spot. The Eagles headed into 2018 needing a strong run to overtake UVic and VIU, but they've struggled to six consecutive defeats in which they've scored eight goals.

Much of the battle for the Eagles has revolved around secondary scoring from their forwards beyond the top line of Beau Walker, Brett Mathews and Colton St. John. That trio has pulled it weight most nights and combined for 12 points in their six games since the break.

Eastern has also seen respectable production from their backend, as Joey Porco, Austin Breen, Kyle Blondin and Tyler Zandhuisen have all hit the back of the net in recent games.

One consistent positive for EWU has been the play of its goaltending tandem, as Austin Brihn and Tanner Loucks have combined for a .893 save percentage in 16 games. That number may not rival the league leaders at this stage of the season, but it's indicitive of the Eagles netminders holding the team in games when they allow nearly 45 shots per game on average.

On Saturday, SFU will head north to Castlegar and hope to jump two points closer towards earning home ice in what currently stands to be a first round postseason meeting with the four-time champion Saints.

Selkirk opened the semester with back-to-back losses against Trinity Western on home ice with both games being decided by a single goal -- including an overtime defeat on January 13th. They might have won both games if not for Spartans netminder Silas Matthys, who stopped 44 shots in a 4-3 victory and 31 in the OT triumph.

The Saints offence has been boosted by a pair of big January additions in Logan Styler and Cole Arcuri. Styler scored in his BCIHL debut against TWU and has picked up five points in four games, while Arcuri has four points in three games from the blueline and was named first star in Selkirk's 6-3 win over Eastern on Sunday.

In goal, the Saints are continuing to receive strong play from the duo of Brett Huber and Patrick Zubick. Huber has taken another step in his third BCIHL season and is near the top of the league leaders list in all major statistical categories. He's also been a model of consistency, never giving up more than three goals against in any of his 10 starts.

Selkirk enters the weekend eight points up on SFU and a Saints win on Saturday would give the plan little margin for error to overtake second place down the stretch.

Friday's game at Eastern will begin at 7:30 PM while Saturday's match-up in Castlegar is set for a 7:00 PM faceoff. Both games can be viewed live on Hockey TV.