Venue: South Surrey Arena
Game Time: Thursday November 10th @ 6:30pm
Prince George is looking to keep the perfect streak alive. They beat the Surrey Eagles twice in the team’s visit up to PG, and were outscored 15-4 in two games. The Eagles will be tough to beat though, as they have been stellar at home posting a 5-2-1-0 record.
The Spruce Kings started their series against Surrey with a dominating 11-2 win. Jarod Hovde and Ethan de Jong combined for 10 points, while linemate Kyle Johnson had three. The team scored early in each of the three periods, and never looked back in their highest scoring performance since January 23rd 2010 against Merritt.
Day two saw a tighter game as Prince George eeked out a 4-2 decision again on home ice. Brett Mennear iced the game in the final minutes sending a shot from his own end into the Eagles empty net.
At home, the Surrey Eagles special teams are well ahead of the pack. The power play is clicking at 40% while the penalty kill is 90.1%. The team is averaging 5.6 goals per game as well in the South Surrey Arena. Surrey is 5-2-1 on home ice, while the Spruce Kings are 2-5 away from the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
Prince George is coming off a weekend where they felt they deserved more. A 4-1 blown lead led to Trail emerging with a 5-4 victory, and the next night it was a hard fought contest in Penticton dropping 3-2 in front of over 3300 fans. The team managed to recover on Sunday, and pickup some points as the former West Kelowna Warriors burned their old team. Tyler Anderson, Tanner Campbell, and Brett Mennear combined for five points as Prince George won 6-1. Stefan Wornig had his shutout bid ended with just under two minutes left, but played a strong game with a number of big saves early on to keep his side in the lead. On the power play it was Brett Mennear scoring the game winning goal. The man-advantage had gone 0 for 4 the night before against the Vees, but converted three times on Sunday thanks to a pair of 5-on-3s.
Prince George will look to win two road games in a row for the first time since last season in early October when they defeated the Vernon Vipers and Salmon Arm Silverback in back-to-back games.
BROADCAST LINKS
WATCH on HockeyTV
LISTEN on Mixlr
STANDINGS:
Right now Prince George in a funny middle ground. They’re a ways back from the pack leaders of the division in Wenatchee and Chilliwack, but have slowly began to distance themselves from the group fighting for the fourth and final playoff spot. A few extra points last week would have helped the cause, but that’s in the past. The Spruce Kings have a four point lead on Langley, and six points on Surrey,but both of those two teams now have a game in hand. Prince George is 4-0-0-1 against teams within their division outside of the Wenatchee Wild. If Prince George wants to keep their playoff hopes alive, they’ll need to count on continuing to dominate the games that mean the most.
With Coquitlam falling off the tracks the last few weeks in large part to key injuries, the Surrey Eagles have been able to surpass them, and currently sit fifth in the Mainland Division. They are just two points behind the Langley Rivermen who take on the mighty Wenatchee Wild this evening.
WHO TO WATCH:
PRINCE GEORGE:
Ethan de Jong – FWD: In his very first BCHL game, Ethan de Jong picked up an assist against the Surrey Eagles. His first game this season against the team he burst out with a career high five points including his first goal in the BCHL. The former BWC standout was shutout the following night, but continued to create chances. Tonight he will return to where he started as a Spruce King, and the team will need him to contribute offensively as he has all season.
Cavin Tilsley – FWD: With two points in his last 12 games, Tilsley is a player the Spruce Kings may look to improve his offence. The Delta product is known as more of an agitator and shutdown forward than anything (tasked with shutting down Tyson Jost last season, the Spruce Kings were the only team Jost didn’t record a point against), but putting a few more points up will help his case. The offence which is tied for 4th best in the BCHL has been firing on all cylinders lately, and could become even more potent with Tilsley finding his way onto the score sheet.
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Surrey Eagles
Jeffrey Stewart – FWD: The BCHL Player of the Week had a pair of big games last week. He had a goal and a helper in a loss to the Langley Riverman on Thursday, and then after being shutout by the next night, had a hat-trick Sunday to lead his team past the Vernon Vipers. The Colgate commit is averaging a point per game, and has been key on special teams with four power play goals and one shortie.
Trent Huitema- DEF: Coming back from the Spokane Chiefs, the Eagles are surely happy to have their big defenseman back in the lineup. Along with Tyler Cooper who is 6’6, the 6’7 Huitema adds some more size to the Eagles roster. With a big body comes big reach, and that will be key on the Olympics sized ice of the South Surrey Arena. The matchup will be size against speed as the Spruce Kings will need to get around the big man since there’s not much hope of going through him.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Spruce Kings @ Coquitlam Express – Friday November 11th, 7pm – Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre
Spruce Kings vs Nanaimo Clippers – Friday November 18th, 7pm – Rolling Mix Concrete Arena
Spruce Kings vs Surrey Eagles – Saturday November 19th, 7pm – Rolling Mix Concrete Arena
