Series now shifts to Coquitlam for Games 3 & 4 tied at a game a-piece
Try as they might, the Spruce Kings could not find a way to tie the game and look for a win in overtime, instead the Coquitlam Express rode the hot hand of their goaltender to even the Mainland Division semi-final series 1-1.
The Prince George Spruce Kings were credited with a total of 41 shots, Justin Rai and Brogan O’Brien helped to erase a 2-0 deficit and send the game to final period of regulation time tied 2-2. A strange goal that slowly slid under a pair of players and then through Alex Murray stood up as the eventual game winner.
The Spruce Kings fired 41 shots on net, 14 of them coming in the final period alone but Gordie Defiel was feeling it last night and made all the stops he had to protect the lead. In the final minute, the Spruce Kings had the puck along the goal line but couldn’t poke it past the skate blade and post as that was as close as they would come to forcing extra time in game two.
Injury troubles continue to plague the Spruce Kings as they had to play the third period without one of the best blueliners in the League. Karan Toor left the game late in the second period and did not return with an undisclosed lower body injury.
Toor becomes the fourth significant injury on the Spruce Kings roster along with Bryant Christian (upper body, day to day), Brent Lashuk (knee, out 6-8 weeks) and Cooper Rush who is listed as day to day but has not been cleared by doctors to return to the ice just yet.
The Prince George Spruce Kings will be picking up at least two affilate players (APs) for their next two games and will be hoping that they can continue to find ways to win as they have through the regular season when faced with multiple injuries.
With the game two loss, the Spruce Kings find themselves in a best of five series with the third seeded team in the Mainland Division. The Coquitlam Express also stole away home ice advantage with three of the next five games all being played in the Lower Mainland.
Games three and four will be played in Coquitlam on Friday and Saturday, March 7th and 8th. Both games have 7pm scheduled start times with Game three broadcast live on 99.3 the Drive. Ron Gallo and Thomas Bohmer will provide the play-by-play both nights with the Spruce Kings looking to win both games giving them a chance to clean up the series on home ice on Monday March 10th.
