One of the losing streaks had to end. Prince George had lost five straight, and Surrey was up to 10 losses in a row. The Spruce Kings needed a win, and thanks to a big game from an ex Eagle they got it in a 4-2 decision.
Right from the drop of the puck Prince George was playing aggressively, and a scrum ensued just 17 seconds into the game. The visiting Spruce Kings went to the penalty kill right away, but managed to kill off the penalty.
Then it was the regular culprits coming up with the goals in the first for PG. Jake LeBrun fed Bryan Basilico who was stopped the first time, but banged in his own rebound. Shortly after that the Spruce Kings drew a penalty of their own, and went to the power play for their first time. Just 25 seconds in Matt Stief passed the puck over to Jake LeBrun, and he slammed home his team leading 10th goal of the season to double the Spruce King lead.
After firing just 14 shots against Chilliwack the night before, and 19 against Wenatchee on Friday, Prince George put 20 shots on Forbes Ploszaj in the first period alone.
In the second period the Spruce Kings continued the aggreesive play with a 2-0 lead, but wound up getting burned on the PK. First it was Corey Hoffman and Adam Burnett heading to the box, while taking the Eagles Matthew Hermary with them. Surrey would take a man advantage from it, and Ty Westgard would pick up the rebound from a Kurt Black shot, and bang the puck in to cut the lead in half. Later it was Braiden Epp and Kyle Johnson taking penalties after a whistle, with Epp and tumbling the ground alongside Matthew Brown from Surrey.
The Eagles would once again head to the power play, and this time it was Kurt Black putting the puck in for his second point of the game to tie things up.
Prince George needed a ray of hope after dropping two quick goals, and they got that when Adam Brubacher flipped the puck up in a hail mary pass to Jordan Funk the ex Surrey Eagle. Funk got the puck just between the circles, and couldn’t control it, but was able to give it just enough of a nudge to go through the legs of Ploszaj. That would give the Spuce Kings the lead at 3-2 heading into the third. In the three games this season the team held a lead going into the third, they were 3-0, so things were looking good.
Surrey managed just five shots in the third as Prince George played most of the period with a dump and chase format hoping to kill the last period off. They would do just that, and the Eagles eventually had to pull their goalie in the final minute.
With the late faceoff, head coach Chad van Diemen sent out the line of Corey Hoffman, Parker Colley, and the Burnable Winter Club call up Ethan De Jong (pictued above) who was playing in his first BCHL game. The line would win the faceoff, and Ethen De Jong smartly pushed the puck down the right side of the ice, but not so hard for icing. The Surrey defender going back to grab the puck got tangled up with the linesman, and Parker Colley who was fore checking grabbed the puck, and tapped the puck into the empty net for this first BCHL goal, with De Jong picking up an assist in his first game.
Liam McCloskey picked up his 4th win of the season after stopping 20 of 22 shots. With his goal and assist, Captain Jake LeBrun received the nod as first star of the game.
Turning Point:
Instead of heading the third tied, the Spruce Kings managed to score halfway through the second, which showed resilience after allowing the Eagles to claw back into the game.
| SCORING SUMMARY |
| PERIOD 1 |
| 1-0 Prince George Spruce Kings at 10:59 – Bryan Basilico from Jake LeBrun |
| 2-0 Prince George Spruce Kings at 13:18 (PP) – Jake LeBrun from Matthew Stief and Adam Brubacher |
| PERIOD 2 |
| 2-1 Surrey Eagles at 3:02 (PP) – Ty Westgard from Kurt Black |
| 2-2 Surrey Eagles at 7:04 (PP) – Kurt Black from Paul McAvoy and Owen Johnson |
| 3-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 9:03 – Jordan Funk from Adam Brubacher |
| PERIOD 3 |
| 4-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 19:40 (EN)– Parker Colley from Ethan de Jong |
