Spruce Kings Finish Roadtrip with 6-1 Win over West K

(Former Warriors Tanner Campbell (left), Brett Mennear (right), and Tyler Anderson combined for three goals and two assists in their first games against their old team, Photo by: MyLight Photography)

With plenty of family in attendance the Spruce Kings were able to emerge from Royal LePage Place with a 6-1 win over the West Kelowna Warriors. Prince George didn’t have a win over the reigning RBC Cup champions since November 25^th 2014, but with a goal 2:19 into the game they never looked back.

The third and fourth lines had been silent over the weekend, but on their first shift of the game, the Schnieder line struck. Taking a feed from Hunter Luhmann, Schneider was able to beat Shane Farkas who was starting after the hot Trevor Martin signed on in the QMJHL. Former Cariboo Cougar, Chase Dubois nearly evened the score shortly after, and Jared Marino who sent the cross ice feed was celebrating early with his arms raised behind the net as Dubois missed the empty cage.

Penalties would play into effect later in the period as the power play that went 0 for 4 the night before in Penticton capitalized on the first two opportunities. Off the left wall, Jamie Huber was able to feed to puck to the slot for Brett Mennear who was all alone on the 5-on-3 man-advantage. With all the time in the world, Mennear was able to snap one past his old team for the 2-0 lead. 30 seconds later Brett Mennear took a hit from behind drawing another penalty, but the puck bounced out to the circle, and the other RBC Cup winner Tyler Anderson jumped up and picked the top right corner tripling the PG lead.

Period two was a general stalemate between the two teams, and West Kelowna nearly made it a two goal game, but Stefan Wornig came up with a huge glove save. Prince George would make the Warriors pay, as they went right back the other way. A pass from de Jong found the stick of Johnson, and he got a shot past Farkas with 4:37 left in the second to make the score 4-0.

The Warriors got into trouble again in the third, and the Spruce Kings put the game out of hand with 12:50 to go. Again it was the former West Kelowna players striking as Anderson blasted a puck from the top of the left circle for his second of the game putting Prince George up 5-0. With just over three minutes left the team continued rolling, as a defensive blunder by the Warriors led to a 2-on-0 for Schneider and Ben Poisson. Poisson assisted on Schneiders earlier goal, and the forward from South Palm Beach returned the favour passing the puck to the left side for Poisson to tap in his fifth of the year putting Prince George up 6-0.

Breaking the shutout bid for Stefan Wornig was Blake Coffey the son of former NHLer Paul. Down on an oddman rush shorthanded with Dubois, Coffey snapped a puck across the body of Wornig beating the netminder glove side.

The 6-1 final provided the Spruce Kings with their first and only points of the weekend. The team dropped 5-4 to Trail Friday, and 3-2 the night before in Penticton. Both previous games were ones Prince George thought they could take points away from. The win gives them a four point cushion for third in the Mainland, though the Langley Rivermen who PG has yet to play holds one game in hand. The Coquitlam Express are six points behind, and sit fifth in the division.

Prince George will get a short break at home, and then are off for games Thursday/Friday in Surrey and Coquitlam.