Spruce Kings Drop 7-3 Decision to Wild

(Photo by Matt Jensen Photography)

The jersey’s were new, but the performance was the same.

For the third game in a row, the Prince George Spruce Kings lost by four goals, this time 7-3 at the hands of the Wenatchee Wild. The team debuted their new third jersey’s which are similar to last years design, but feature grey as the prominent colour with red accents.

It was the second game in three nights between the two teams, and Wenatchee got off to a hot start scoring just past the two minute mark of the frame. With two goals on Wednesday, AJ Vanderbeck played setup man as he passed the puck off to Jimmy O’Brien who was able to beat Wornig for his first BCHL goal.

The dangerous duo of Charlie Combs and Brendan Harris who combined for six points on Wednesday would strike on the power play to double the Wild lead with Harris passing off to Combs who scored his third goal of the season.

Two minutes later it was Prince George getting on the board, as Dakota Raabe sat in the box after staying on the ice despite losing his helmet. Taking a feed from Kyle Johnson at the top of the right circle, Chong Lee was able to find the net for his first time of the season beating Garrett Nieto blocker side.

Before the goal was even announced though, it was Wenatchee silencing the home crowd with a seconds later. Brian Williams was able to strip the puck from the defenseman, and beat Wornig with 4:46 to go in the first restoring the Wild’s two goal lead at 3-1.

In the second the Wild would roar to a quick start as Chad Sasaki dumped the puck in hard, and Matthew Baker was able to beat the defenders to the puck, and one timed a sharp angled shot bar down to make the score 4-1 just 57 seconds in. This time it was the Spruce Kings turn to respond promptly, as Tanner Campbell took a feed in the slot and found his first goal of the year just 15 seconds after Baker scored.

The score sat 4-2 for the next 12 minutes, and would prove to be the closest Prince George would come as Wenatchee scored twice more in the second to lead 6-2 heading to the third on goals from Raabe shorthanded, and Jasper Weatherby scoring his first in the BCHL in his first game after being a scratch Wednesday.

Chong Lee would score his second of the match in the third as he came down the right side and beat Nieto in similar fashion to his first, but again the celebrations were short lived with Charlie Combs scoring his second of the game 14 seconds later. That would cap the scoring as the Wild took the final by a score of 7-3.

 

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Spruce Kings – 1 for 5 on the power play

Wild – 1 for 7 on the power play

 

Luhmann Debut:

In his first game since being acquired from the Waterloo Blackhawks, Hunter Luhmann looked to be a player that will help the scoring woes of the Spruce Kings. The 19 year old able to push the puck forward a number of times using his big frame to hold onto the puck. He didn’t have any notable scoring opportunities, but his debut was strong, and he looks to be a prominent player for the Spruce Kings this season.