(Photo Courtesy: Vicki Brown)
PRINCE GEORGE – The Prince George Spruce Kings saw themselves lending a helping hand to the Trail Smoke Eaters as the visitors snapped a six-game losing streak Friday night at Kopar Memorial Arena, defeating the Spruce Kings 4-2.
The Smoke Eaters improve their record to 15-16-1-3 while the Spruce Kings see their record slip to 18-14-2-1.
Jordan Hendry had a two-goal night in the winning effort while Teagan Kendrick stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced from Prince George.
Jordan Fairlie was handed the loss between the pipes, allowing four goals on 28 shots.
The scoring got underway in the opening period. Adam Parsons scored his 11th goal of the season at 7:28 of the first period. Nicholas Remissong and Judah Makway earned the assists on the play as the Smoke Eaters took a 1-0 lead.
Ahead of intermission, Trail made it a two-goal lead as Mathieu Cobetto-Roy scored his 10th of the season. The goal came on the powerplay after Kai Greaves was sent off for two minutes following a boarding penalty. It took the Smoke Eaters just ten seconds with the man advantage before they scored. Evan Bushy and Brady Hunter assisted the goal as the Smoke Eaters took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room between periods.
In the second, Evan Fedele single-handedly worked to get momentum on the PG side, cutting across to the middle of the offensive zone before firing a quick-released wrist shot to score his fourth season goal. The goal was unassisted at 3:12 of the second period.
However, less than a minute later, the Smoke Eaters responded. Jordan Hendry scored his first goal of the evening at 3:55. The goal marked Hendry’s second of the season. Ethan Mann assisted the play as the Smoke Eaters reclaimed their two-goal lead.
In the third, Jake Schneider got the scoring back underway. Just 27 seconds into the final period, the Spruce Kings forward tallied his 15th goal of the season. The goal extended Schneider’s scoring streak to four games. Colton Cameron earned the helper.
Once again, the momentum the Spruce Kings got from scoring was quickly wiped off of the board as the Smoke Eaters barked back. Hendry made it 4-2 at 1:21 for his third goal of the season. Adam Marshall earned his 10th assist of the season as the Smoke Eaters held on for the victory through the rest of the period.
The Spruce Kings and Smoke Eaters will face each other again Saturday night at Kopar Memorial Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Spruce Kings: Fedele, Schneider
Smoke Eaters: Hendry (2), Parsons, Cobetto-Roy
Goaltending
Spruce Kings: Jordan Fairlie (L) 58:04 (4 GA, 24 saves)
Smoke Eaters: Teagan Kendrick (W) 60:00 (2 GA, 19 saves)
Power-Play
Spruce Kings: 0/4 (0%)
Smoke Eaters: 1/3 (33%)
Shots
Spruce Kings: 21
Smoke Eaters: 28
Next Game: Saturday, January 28th versus the Trail Smoke Eaters at Kopar Memorial Arena in Prince George, BC.
