Gens head coach Kurtis Jones says his players have no reason to hang their heads low after losing their last two games, He believes they have outplayed their opponents and just need to start scoring to get that monkey off their back.

"We're close," says Jones. "We just have to sharpen our pencil a little bit more and we'll be there. We're good, we just can't score goals. We need to get the puck in the net."

The junior 'B' team lost 2-1 to the Red Deer Vipers last night at the Cochrane Arena in a game that came down to the wire. 

The match was a 0-0 stalemate entering the third period when the Vipers scored at the 25-second mark. Cole Hardman plugged in an assurance goal for the Vipers halfway through the period by capitalizing on his own rebound on a breakaway.

Positional play went out the window after the Vipers scored their second goal and Coach Jones called a timeout to give the team time to regroup.

"There's nothing to hang your heads down here for boys," he told them. "There are eight minutes left, let's go, let's go. We've been preparing for this all week."

With goalie Erik Garber pulled, Ryan David scored from Jordan Fisher with 11 seconds remaining. The Gens pressured the Vipers until the buzzer sounded but came up just short.

Jones believes the Vipers were in the Gens zone less than five minutes in that final stanza. Shots on goal favored the Gens 43-26, but the scoreboard didn't.

"We should have won, we outplayed them hands down," says Jones. "We had the opportunities, we just couldn't score. We had one bad bounce go in the net, but that's hockey."

"There are guys that can score. We're just not getting bounces right now." 

Gens players and fans alike voiced frustration over the number of times Viper goal Dawson Weatherill knocked his net off its pins. They were constantly voicing their case with the referee until a warning was given and one penalty was called. Even then, the net continued to be knocked off its magnets when the Gens were pressing.

The schedule doesn't get much easier for the Gens today. They're off to Didsbury to face the 1-1 Mountainview Colts. The Colts beat Stettler Lightning but lost to Coaldale Copperheads, 6-3.