CHILLIWACK BC – Ryan McAllister’s 3rd goal of the season late in the 2nd Period was not enough as the Spruce Kings fell 4-1 at the Chilliwack Coliseum on Saturday night.
In the opening frame, it did not take the Chiefs long to get the scoring started. Ethan Bowen got a puck just to the left of the slot and fired the puck past Jett Alexander to give the Chiefs an early 1-0 lead. A few moments later, Spruce Kings forward Corey Cunningham delivered a hit to the head on Nikita Nesterenko, resulting in a 5-minute major and a game misconduct. Nesterenko appeared to be seriously hurt on the play, but actually didn’t miss a shift. Chilliwack had the better chances in the opening frame, but it was just a 1-0 score after 20 minutes.
6:54 into the second frame, it was Joey Larson who fired home his 9th of the year going down the wing, and shooting it short side on the blocker side of Alexander to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead. Just over a minute later, the Chiefs struck again, as Nesterenko came down the opposite wing and went short side on the glove side of Alexander to up the lead to 3-0 for Chilliwack. That Nesterenko marker was also a power-play goal. With just under three minutes to play in the second, the line of Ryan McAllister, Andrew Seaman, and Tom Richter went to work. Seaman picked the pocket of Nesterenko at center and gave the puck to McAllister down low in transition, and the London, Ontario native didn’t have much room but was able to fire it past goaltender Mathieu Caron to get Prince George on the board in the later going of the 2nd.
In the final frame, Prince George had their best chance of the period early from Seaman, who fired a rebound off the goal post, nearly putting the Spruce Kings within one. After that chance, the Chiefs carried the play for the most part, and got rewarded with their 4th goal of the night. At 14:57 Brett Rylance scored his 6th of the season giving the Chiefs a 4-1 lead. That was all that was needed for the Chiefs as they snap a three-game skid, defeating the Spruce Kings 4-1.
The Spruce Kings now return home for three games beginning Wednesday night in a rematch of the Fred Page Cup Finals, taking on the Vernon Vipers. You can get your tickets online or at the Spruce Kings office, which opens up on Tuesday morning at 10 AM. If you cannot make it, you can catch the action on mixlr.com/sprucekings or on HockeyTV.
It is also Student Night on Wednesday. Tickets for all students are just $5. Make sure to show your school ID at the door.
Defenceman Amran Bhabra and Evan Orr will be signing autographs post game in the Spruce Kings lobby.
