When the Kootenay Ice and Red Deer Rebels clash in Cranbrook tonight, think of it as Game 1 of a pre-playoff mini-series that might blossom into a real one next week.

Game 2 would be Friday in Central Alberta, and both games should be as close to a genuine playoff experience this side of next week.

That will just add to the experience for Ice forward Brock Montgomery.

“I personally love playing Red Deer. You always know it’s going to be a good game going into it,” said the rookie. “They’re battling hard and when we’re battling hard it’s a strong, hard-fought game.”

The Ice enter tonight’s game with 85 points, two more than Red Deer but one less than the Medicine Hat Tigers.

The Rebels had long had a game in hand, but burned it last night in a 5-2 loss to the Lethbridge Spoilers (read: Hurricanes). Thank you notes may be addressed to Cam Braes and Austin Fyten who had three points each, or Marysville’s Carter Bancks who had a pair, including the final Lethbridge goal.

After their mini-series, the Ice and Rebels will have just one game remaining. Kootenay will host the Eastern Conference-worst Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday. Red Deer caps things off Sunday afternoon against the Conference-leading Hitmen in Calgary.

The Tigers have two games left, a home-and-home with the Hurricanes (read: Spoilers).

None of the above matters if the Ice get six points. Three wins would give them fourth place and the chance to start the post season at the Rec Plex.

In any case, Montgomery said it’s become too close for a Kootenay team that had seven- and nine-point cushions on the Tigers and Rebels a few weeks ago.

“(The Rebels) are our possible first round opponent for playoffs, so we’re going to want to set the tone, chip pucks in lots and be physical,” he said. “They’re coming into our building, and we’re not going to want to be fancy and cute with them. We’re going to want to get in there and... play our game that we usually play.”

They haven’t had a good time of it lately at the Rec Plex, losers of five straight at home.

Montgomery said the struggles haven’t gone unnoticed, particularly by head coach Mark Holick.

“The drills in practice are just getting down to the basics. When we were scoring, we were just getting pucks on net and crashing so lately that’s all we’ve been doing. In practice, we’re shooting pucks wide and driving for the rebound. If we can do that in games and get 30 pucks-plus pucks on them, we’re bound to score a few.”

Montgomery is one of his team’s preeminent crashers, but had missed nine games with a shoulder separation. He got back into the lineup with spot duty last Friday, then a bigger role Saturday.

“I skated pretty hard before I could start doing any hitting, so I stayed in pretty good shape,” he said. “It was nice to get back into the lineup — I was itching to get back.”

He said there’s nothing more than a bit of soreness in his shoulder, and any injury to the joint wouldn’t be a re-injury; it would be a new one.

“I strengthened it up quite a bit. I’d say I was a little nervous to take the first hit but after that it was fine.”