Down to their final lives the Prince George Cougars will attempt to snap a six-game losing skid and crawl back into the playoff hunt in the Western Hockey League when they host the Spokane Chiefs in a doubleheader this weekend.
"We know that coming into these games that every game is a must win really," said Cats' captain Jesse Forsberg about tonight's and Saturday's games at CN Centre.
The Chiefs (34-22-4-3) are in a tight battle with the Vancouver Giants (36-23-1-3) for fourth place, and home-ice advantage, when the two meet in the Western Conference first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Cougars (19-42-0-2) are last in the league and trail the Seattle Thunderbirds (21-39-1-1) by four points, with only nine games left to play, in the snail's race for the final playoff spot.
"Other teams are doing us favours but at this point it's up to us to get it together here and get some wins and make the post season," said Forsberg about the fact the seventh-place Victoria Royals (20-38-2-4), T-birds and ninth-place Everett Silvertips (17-37-1-8) are also struggling to win.
The Cougars are 2-0 against the Chiefs this season, having won in Spokane 5-4 on Nov. 26 and 4-3 on Dec. 10, but head into the weekend series on a six-game losing skid.
"I think we came in there and they underestimated us a little bit looking at our record, but everybody chipped in and we did what we needed to do," said Forsberg, adding the Cats better anticipate an angry Chiefs' team this weekend. "They're not going to come out flat knowing that we swept them at home and we've got to be ready to match."
Prince George's woeful offence - they've scored a WHL low 138 goals for - has been hampered without their pre-Christmas leading scorer Alex Forsberg, who has missed most of the past two months with a lingering lower-body injury.
"He's had this thing that's been off and on a little bit," said Cougars' coach Dean Clark. "He's a guy that would certainly make a difference for us."
In 44 games the 16-year-old rookie had 12 goals and 31 points. Second-year Cougar Troy Bourke leads the team in scoring with 44 points in 62 games, while Greg Fraser lead the team in goals with 16.
After the two-game series with the Chiefs, the Cougars' playoff fate will likely be decided when the Thunderbirds' visit Prince George for games Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We've put ourselves in a little bit of a hole and need to get wins," said Clark.
