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Spruce Kings Hit Rough Waters On Island

Heading into the weekend the Spruce Kings were six points back of the Coquitlam Express. Facing the Wenatchee Wild, Coquitlam lost both games giving Prince George a golden opportunity to gain some ground.

The Spruce Kings would only muster up one point though, in a very inconsistent weekend.

Things kicked off with a 6-2 loss in Powell River, against Chad van Diemen’s former team. Prince George would tie things up at two in the second when Jeff Smith came out of his net to play the puck, but the disc had other ideas taking a  goofy bounce right to Kyle Johnson who all alone in front of the net with an empy cage. That was a fifteem minutes after Jake LeBrun had scored on the power play lasting over from the first period.

Within a minute and a half of the Johnson goal, Powell River would score twice, and ride those two to another pair in the third taking the game 6-2.

The next night Prince George had a chance to bounce back against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, and the team would go back and forth exchanging leads until the Bull dogs scored a quick on in overtime. The game was Ryan Fritz’s first of the season after missing the start of the with a lower body injury sustained in last year’s playoffs.

The first goal was a late one from the Bulldogs captain  Eric Margo, as he put his team up 1-0 with a little over two minutes left in the game. The Spruce Kings would bounce back in the second though, as Jake LeBrun and Braiden Epp scored within a minute to make it 2-1.

Alberni would regain the lead with two unanswered goals. Then Kyle Johnson stole the puck at centre, passed it to Bryan Basilico, and he made a nice power move to drive the net, and slide the puck in with a backhander.

Overtime didn’t last long, and the Bulldogs would drive down the ice right away, and score just 12 seconds in with Josh Adkins finishing off the play.

On Sunday afternoon the Spruce Kings had a chance to claw within three points of Coquitlam for the 4th spot in the Mainland division. The Victoria Grizzlies had other things to say, as they were in a hunt for the 4th spot in the Island Division. The Grizzlies shut down five Prince George power plays, and skated to a big 7-3 win.

Prince George took the first lead of the goal on a late period tip in from Jake LeBrun. The Grizzlies were called for icing, and with a faceoff win the Spruce Kings got a shot from Alex Stoley that LeBrun tipped in front. Victoria would respond in the second, and score 27 seconds into the period.

Victoria would respond in the second, scoring three unanswered goals with defenceman Jake Stevens scoring twice. Steven’s mom also sang the national anthem before the game, with a moment of silence being held since there wouldn’t be a game on Remembrance Day for the Grizzlies.

The third started the same as the second, with the Spruce Kings conceding a goal less than minute in. Dante Hahn would score again as the first goal was being announced, and with the score at 5-2 Liam McCloskey was pulled and Sam Tanguay finoshed the game.

Victoria would score two special teams goals to finish off their scoring, as Keyvan Mokatari scored shorthanded, and then Dante Hahn added his second of the game to make the score 7-2.

Bryan Basilico would score the first Prince George shorthanded goal of the season when he stole the puck at centre from ex Spruce Kings Luc Soares, and skate down to beat Mitchel Benson under his glove. That would do it for scoring in the game with the final score coming out to 7-3.

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