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Comeback Victory Leads Prince George Over Coquitlam

(Travis Schneider of the Spruce Kings behind the net marked by Luca Leone, photo by Matt Jensen Photography)

After a scoreless period the night before, Prince George wasted no time Saturday night. Taking a feed from Cavin Tilsley, Tyler Anderson continued his strong play blasting home a slap shot for the 1-0 just 2:27 in.

It took the Express 6:51 to get their first shot on goal, but they made it count as Jake Brien scored off a faceoff to even the score. They had the best chance to take their first lead of the game just before nine minutes in as Cal Babych led a three-on-one. The forward looking for his third goal in five games took the shot, which was shouldered away by Tavin Grant, and cleared by the defence.

The first penalty of the game came to the Spruce Kings as Adam Burnett sat for interference. The Express power play didn’t take long to click as Kozlowski scored just 22 seconds in for his second goal in as many night. Jamie Huber nearly evened the score moment later, but a pass from Campbell went over the stick. On the same possession, both defense partners in Watson-Brawn and Adam Burnett got good looks at the net, but were unable to beat Reid Cooper.

Two minutes into the second it was Jarod Hovde leading a two-on-one. Toe dragging to the middle and past the defender his shot was blockered away by Cooper. Prince George earned a power play with Alex Ambrosio heading to the box for roughing, but were unable to convert.

Right around the halfway mark, on a scrambly play from the side of the net, Ambrosio would repay his team for taking a penalty earlier on, and scored his fifth of the season to keep pace with teammate Kozlowski. Chad Van Diemen pulled Grant after allowing three goals on nine shots.

The Spruce Kings would again head to the power play with Hayward in the box looking to come back from the 3-1 deficit. Early Mennear dinged one off the cross bar but that’s the closest they came. The would claw within one late in the frame as Travis Schneider took a wrister from the left circle that clipped the shoulder of Cooper, and dribbled over the goal line to make it 3-2. A late power play for Prince George gave them the opportunity to tie the game, but once again were unable to capitalize as they were 0 for 4 heading to the third.

Coming into the game, the Express were undefeated when leading after two periods. The Spruce Kings got off to a hot start in the frame though, as less than three minutes in a Connor Russell point shot was tipped in by Ben Poisson.

The excitement wouldn’t last long though as Hayden Knight beat Wornig on Coquitlam’s 13th shot of the night to give the Express a 4-3 lead. That lasted all of 11 seconds as Parker Colley scored his fourth goal in five games to even things up. The home team took their first lead of the game as a long pass from Connor Russell found Jamie Huber, who streaked in and scored for the second straight night making it 5-4. He would add a second just before the halfway point as he took a cross ice pass from Brett Menenar to double the Spruce Kings lead.

It was the second week in a row the Spruce Kings scored six or more goals on a Saturday, which meant a second straight week of “Score Six Saturdays” from Subway. All fans in attendance received a voucher for two free cookies from the sub shop with

That’s the way the game would settle as things got chippy at the end resulting in a power play for Prince George, but with 40 seconds left the team was happy just to preserve the lead.

Finishing the game for PG was Stefan who stopped eight of the nine shots he faced to record the win. Reid Cooper allowed six goals on the 56 shots he faced. Final shots were 56-18 for Prince George who have yet to be outshot in the last three weeks.

With the lead off goal Tyler Anderson was the first star, two helpers led Connor Russell to the second, and Jamie Huber who scored twice was named the games first star. Cavin Tilsley with one assist was the game’s Fortis Energy Player of the game.

 

Scoring

1st
2:27 PG Tyler Anderson (3) ASST: Cavin Tilsley (6)
6:56 COQ Jake Brien (1) ASST: Luca Leone (9)
14:23 COQ Sam Kozlowski (5) ASST: Jordan Schulting (6), Blake Hayward (10) (PP)
2nd
9:52 COQ Alex Ambrosio (5) ASST: Hayden Knight (1), Luca Leone(10)
16:42 PG Travis Schneider (3) ASST: Hunter Luhmann (4)
3rd
2:50 PG Ben Poisson (4) ASST: Connor Russell (4), Hunter Luhmann (5)
4:14 COQ Hayden Knight (3) ASST: Jordan Schulting (7), Luca Leone (11)
4:25 PG Parker Colley (4) ASST: None
7:11 PG Jamie Huber (6) ASST: Connor Russell (5)
9:58 PG Jamie Huber (7) ASST: Brett Mennear (12), Tanner Campbell (11)