After a month long road trip that saw the Rampage shut out of the win column, they take to the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre tonight for the first of two games against the Smithers Steelheads.
Tonight's puck drop is at 8 PM, while the Sunday wrap to the weekend will start at 1 PM.
The Rampage currently trail the Kitimat Ice Demons by two points in the playoff race in the CIHL West with just over a month to go in the regular season.
The Ice Demons don't see action this weekend, so a pair of wins on home ice for Prince Rupert would leap frog them ahead of Kitimat in the West.
Prince Rupert can hopefully build some momentum from last week's match up in Kitimat, a controversial evening which saw misconducts and expulsions as part of the box score on the night.
Using some of the events of last weekend could prove to be a strong motivator for the squad, looking
for any kind of an edge to try and make for a strong finish for this last moth of the season.
The task however will be a large one, Smithers is looking to make a charge of their own, tracking down the division leading Terrace River Kings.Smithers is currently 8 points back from Terrace picking up four points on the weekend on the coast would certainly help their cause for their own late season push.
For the Rampage to slow down those ambitions, some dedication to defensive play will probably be the key to the weekend, heading into tonight's matchup the Rampage have given up the second most number of goals in the CIHL at 56, trailing only Lac La Heche with 64 in the defensive shortcomings.
Keeping Smithers out of the Rampage end of the Jim this weekend will be an important part of the game plan, should Prince Rupert hope to claim the points for the taking.
You can review the season so far with our Results page review here.
For more items on the Rampage and the CIHL see our archive page here.
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