(Photo Courtesy: Vicki Brown)
PRINCE GEORGE – The Prince George Spruce Kings held the Penticton Vees for two periods, however, the wheels came off in the final period of regulation as the Vees went on to win 3-0 at Kopar Memorial Arena on Friday night.
Despite being disciplined for much of the game and earning five powerplay opportunities, the Spruce Kings couldn’t find a way to get the puck in past the Vees goalie. The Vees were handed 17 total penalty minutes. Penticton went one-for-two on the powerplay.
Penticton (30-2-0-0) earns themselves their 30th win of the season while the Spruce Kings see their record go to 16-12-2-1.
Hank Levy earned himself his second shutout of the season with a 29-save performance while Jordan Fairlie stopped 25 of the 28 shots he saw for the night.
The first two periods were scoreless, however, things picked up physically in the second.
After Amran Bhabra was sent headfirst into the boards, a scrum ensued as Ty Gagno and Billy Norcross began throwing punches. Norcross ended up getting called for boarding. Both Norcross and Gagno were handed five-minute majors for fighting as well as Game Misconducts. Bhabra was able to skate off and would eventually return to the ice in the third period.
In the third, the Vees quickly jumped their offence and were able to break the stalemate. Brett Moravec scored his 18th of the season at 1:13 into the final period to make it 1-0. The goal was unassisted.
The score would remain a one-goal game for much of the period until Bradly Nadeau connected with brother Josh for his 22nd of the season. The assist was Bradly’s 37th of the season at 16:53 of the period.
The score wrapped up less than a minute later as Aydar Suniev rifled in a one-timer from the top of the right-wing circle for his 23rd goal of the season on the powerplay following a high-sticking penalty to Bhabra. Ryan Hopkins and Bradly Nadeau both earned assists on the play.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Spruce Kings: None
Vees: Moravec, J. Nadeau, Suniev
Goaltending
Spruce Kings: Jordan Fairlie (L) 60:00 (3 GA, 25 saves)
Vees: Hank Levy (W) 60:00 (29-save shutout)
Power-Play
Spruce Kings: 0/5 (0%)
Vees: 1/2 (50%)
Shots
Spruce Kings: 29
Vees: 28
Next Game: Saturday, January 7th versus the Penticton Vees at Kopar Memorial Arena in Prince George, BC.
