In what could have been described as a see-saw battle, the Prince George Spruce Kings scraped out another point on the road tying the Victoria Grizzlies 3-3 on Saturday at The Q Centre.
Victoria got on the board first courtesy of Matthew Doran who beat Evan DeBrouwer for the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
In the second, the Spruce Kings found their legs and came out flying in the middle frame potting a pair of early markers courtesy of Brady Bjork and Jarod Hovde, lighting the lamps against Grizzlies goaltender Kurtis Chapman.
The lead didn’t last long though as Alex Newhook and Lach Hadley put Victoria back out in front as they carried a 3-2 advantage at the end of the middle frame.
Prince George worked tirelessly to even the score in the third and it was Patrick Cozzi who would be rewarded with just 3:15 remaining in regulation time to tie the contest at 3-3 when the regulation buzzer sounded.
Both overtime periods were back and forth, however, both Chapman and DeBrouwer shut the door for their respective clubs in order to secure a point.
Victoria outshot the Spruce Kings 32-28 overall and also went 2 for 3 on the power-play while the Spruce Kings didn’t score in five opportunities.
Langley Rivermen remain a point up on the Spruce Kings for top spot in the Mainland Division following a 3-3 tie of their own against the Surrey Eagles.
Prince George will have another chance to pull ahead tomorrow against the Cowichan Valley Capitals in their final game before the Christmas break.
Earlier in the day, Kyle Johnson and Ethan de Jong captured gold with Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge after defeating USA 5-1 in Truro, Nova Scotia.
