Blizzard @ Kings - Preview - On CJ1240

Familiar foes with similar records.

Justin McDonald gets a shot at redemption tonight at Credit Union Place 

Dauphin and OCN meet up for the first half of a home and home series. This is the last road game of 2012 for the Blizzard.

After tomorrow night's game the Blizzard and Kings will have met up for four matches since the 30th of November, all of them have been important games and tonight/ tomorrow will be no different.

Two big four point games this weekend that could determine who ends up being first and second in the division come the end of the season. If OCN wants to keep Dauphin at bay they at the very least need a split. It goes without saying that their goal will be a sweep. A 3 point margin between OCN and Dauphin after the break with the Kings holding 4 games in hand would not be a good position for the Blizzard should they drop both of these games.

The last match up between these two clubs was an ugly one for OCN, a 7-2 loss where only a handful of players showed up to play. Justin McDonald was fighting the puck, as was the rest of the team.

McDonald will get the start tonight after a strong performance in Waywayseecappo on Tuesday as per Head Coach Clay DeBray on Tuesday's Murray GM post-game show.

OCN will need to get off to a fast start and quiet down what should be a raucous crowd at Credit Union Place tonight, Dauphin will be having their own teddy bear toss as well as several other big draws so I'm expecting a packed house.

If the Blizzard can weather the first five minutes unscathed they'll look good once the game settles into a regular pace.

OCN will have to shutdown Gaudet, Sinatynski and Naud if they want to have some success tonight, Murray likes to cut down on his lines as the game moves on. By the third period he really only rolls his top two lines.

Dauphin has had solid goaltending all season as well, whether it be Pominville or Archibald OCN will have to create traffic and get some Garick Gray style goals.

Speaking of Gray, he needs to get his game on track tonight, he's looked better each game since his return but the Blizzard will need him in a big way tonight and tomorrow. Gray, a converted defender, is one of the Blizz's best 2 way forwards and brings a physical edge. He'll be leaned on heavily to try and shut down three of the top five scorers in the league.

The game will be on CJ1240 tonight, or thepasonline.com . Pre-Game at 7:15 - Puck drop at 7:30.

Here are the head to head results between these two clubs:

HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS DATE AWAY HOME SCORE TYPE 09-Oct-12 OCN Blizzard @ Dauphin Kings 3 - 2 RS 30-Nov-12 Dauphin Kings @ OCN Blizzard 3 - 2 RS 11-Dec-12 OCN Blizzard @ Dauphin Kings 2 - 7 RS

and the team comparisons:

TEAM COMPARISON (Regular Season)
	OCN Blizzard	Dauphin Kings
Games Played	38	34
Wins	24	22
Losses	9	9
Ties	0	0
Overtime Losses	2	0
Win/Loss Points	50	44
Goals For	145	124
Goals Against	108	92