'Huge' points at stake

These are the games that can make or break the season for the Regina Pats and the Calgary Hitmen.

The Eastern Conference foes will battle for the fourth and final time this season on Friday Night Hockey. Calgary won two of the first three meetings while each game was determined by two goals or less. As young, rising teams, both the Pats and Hitmen are in a dog-fight for the playoffs and won't be taking this game lightly when points are at a premium.

Catch the Hitmen host the Pats in the second game of our double-header (Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet Pacific). The Guelph Storm visit the London Knights in the first game.

"At the end of the year, there's going to be a good hockey team or two that will miss the playoffs and probably look back and look at some games that you left some points on the table that were available," Hitmen head coach Mike Williamson said. "There's not a huge separation from top to bottom of the conference. Each and every night the points are going to be so, so huge."

Regina head coach Pat Conacher predicts a race to the finish after Christmas that will go right through to the end of the season. The Pats are sitting in the playoff bubble now, but will have competition from every angle.

"You don't want to look behind you, but then you see Swift Current's really improving and Prince Albert's really improving," Conacher said. "As this whole thing goes on, it's just going to tighten up."

Can the Hitmen neutralize Jordan Weal's effectiveness?

In Regina's only win over the Hitmen this season, Weal began the comeback with a late third-period goal to cut the deficit to 3-2. Dyson Stevenson then tied the game with less than a minute remaining and Weal scored again in the shootout to help secure the win.

"He's a game-changing type of player," Williamson noted. "Everybody on the ice has to have an awareness (when Weal's on the ice). He's explosive. If he gets the puck alone in a good scoring area, he usually doesn't miss. He's a dynamic player and awareness is the key."

Weal is Regina's top offensive threat. He's among the league leaders in points this season, averaging nearly one assist per game, which Conacher feels is low considering Regina's lack of a finisher to play alongside him.

"If we had a real finisher with Jordan, Jordan would be averaging more than two assists a game," Conacher said. "He gives guys opportunities to bury every game and they don't bury. I'm not taking anything away from anybody, but we just don't have a lot of finishers. Jordan, he's a very good finisher himself, but if we had some people that could bury for him, he'd be a pretty big point producer."

Conacher notes it's not an issue of passing when he should shoot or shooting when he should pass. Weal's intelligence opens opportunities for teammates, like Chandler Stevenson, a center converting to wing on Weal's line.

Can Victor Rask pick up where he left off?

The Carolina Hurricanes' second-round pick is off to a strong start in his first season playing in North America. He picked up a point in each of the three games against the Pats, including two goals and the game-winner in their last meeting on Nov. 5.

"He's a very, very good player," Williamson said. "I think he's still adjusting a little bit to the ice and the style of game, but he's obviously a guy that has garnered some attention for other teams when he's on the ice. He's very intelligent and when he's moving his feet and working to get pucks, he can create a lot of offence."

Rask is second in scoring on the Hitmen behind Cody Sylvester.

Will the Hitmen's physical play give them an edge?

As is nearly customary of any Hitmen team, this year's squad isn't afraid to play the body. Williamson believes his defensive core can slow Weal by making it hard on him and taking away his space.

"We have a pretty big, strong D," he said. "We want them to be as physical as possible on all the guys and if you have a chance to make it tough on the top guys, that certainly helps."

"They're a big team," Conacher noted. "They're a tough team to play against because they do such a great job in the defensive zone boxing out to the front of the net. They're an extremely tough team to get to the net."

Conacher knows it will be difficult for his team to get shots through, since the Hitmen forwards will sacrifice the body to block shots. Their grinding, physical play in front of their own net often carries over to the way they play in front of opposing goaltenders.

"They bring it to you," he said. "They have power forwards that bring it to the net. They punish you in all three zones. They're a very tough team to play against."

How vital are special teams?

In each of the last two meetings, the winning goal was decided by special teams. Rask's power-play goal stood up as the winner on Nov. 5 while Sylvester won it with a shorthanded goal on Oct. 20.

"They're everything," Conacher said of special teams. "You play a third of all games on some type of specialty teams."

Williamson believes part of his team's turnaround can be attributed to a resurgent power-play and penalty kill, even if there is still room for improvement.

"The start of the year, it was one of the reasons we weren't winning games was both special teams," he said. "Both started to improve dramatically and the wins started coming for us and lately there's been a bit of inconsistency there."