(Photo Courtesy: Vicki Brown, MyLight Sports Photography)
VERNON – Penalties proved costly for the Prince George Spruce Kings on Saturday night as the Vernon Vipers scored a pair of goals with the man advantage to win 2-1 at home inside Kal Tire Place.
The win draws the Vipers closer to the Spruce Kings in the standings while also leaping ahead of the Wenatchee Wild for the sixth spot in the Interior Division standings. The Vipers now have a season record of 24-20-2-4. Meanwhile, the Spruce Kings (25-20-4-1) get handed their 20th loss of the season at a critical time when every game has playoff implications.
Austin Fraser scored the lone goal for the Spruce Kings, which came in the first period and gave them a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The goal snapped a scoreless drought for Fraser with his last goal coming back on January 14 against Wenatchee.
With both of their goals coming on the powerplay, the Vipers did enough to secure the victory as Luke Pakulak and Seiya Tanaka-Campbell were the goal-scorers for Vernon. The Vipers finished the game going two-for-four on the man advantage while being able to successfully kill all three penalties they committed.
Despite the loss, the Spruce Kings already won the season series as it now concludes, in their favour, 4-3 through seven games.
Up next for Prince George, they’ll host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks at Kopar Memorial Arena on Friday, March 17. The game will get underway at approximately 7:00 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Spruce Kings: Fraser
Vipers: Pakulak, Tanaka-Campbell
Goaltending
Spruce Kings: Jordan Fairlie (L) 59:19 (2 GA, 23 saves)
Vipers: Roan Clarke (W) 60:00 (1 GA, 22 saves)
Power-Play
Spruce Kings: 0/3 (0%)
Vipers: 2/4 (50%)
Shots
Spruce Kings: 23
Vipers: 25
Next Game: Friday, March 17th versus the Salmon Arm Silverbacks at Kopar Memorial Arena in Prince George, BC.
