Nine games without a victory.
That’s the grim reality facing the Prince George Cougars.
The soul-searching continued Saturday night in Langley where the Cougars lost 4-2 to the Vancouver Giants.
Milos Roman scored twice for the Giants, collecting the opener on a Giants power play before the game was four minutes old, and added an empty-netter in the final minute.
Dylan Plouffe rapped in a loose puck off the end boards to score in the second period to put the Giants up 2-1, but Josh Maser tied it on a Cougars power play with 2.2 seconds left in the period, finding a loose puck in the crease after defenceman Ryan Schoettler shot from the point.
The gamewinner came from Justin Sourdif, who got himself open on a right-wing dash and lifted a shot in behind Isaiah DiLaura.
Cole Moberg scored his 10th of the season for the Cougars in the first period with a wrister from the point after Matej Toman won a draw in the Giants’ end.
DiLaura was the busier of the two goalies, called upon to make 28 saves. Giants goalie Trent Miner stopped 15 shots.
The Cougars were without veteran defenceman Joel Lakusta, who mised his second game with an upper-body injury. Centre Ilijah Colina was also out of the lineup, having returned to his home in North Delta for personal reasons.
The win left the B.C. Division-leading Giants (33-13-32-1) 32 points ahead of the Cougars. Now sitting last in the WHL’s Western Conference, the Cougars (16-29-3-2) are seven points behind the Kamloops Blazers for the second wild-card playoff spot on the conference. Prince George and Kamloops each have 18 games remaining in the season.
The Cougars haven’t won a game since Jan. 12, when they beat Kelowna 4-0 at CN Centre. Since then they’ve gained just two points, one each from their overtime losses to Kamloops and Prince Albert.
The Cougars and Giants have three more games against each other over the next week. They’ll play Tuesday and Wednesday at CN Centre then meet again next Sunday in Langley.
