(Photo Courtesy: Vicki Brown)
PRINCE GEORGE – For the first time this season, the Penticton Vees were shut out after the Prince George Spruce Kings defeated them 3-0 on Saturday night inside Kopar Memorial Arena.
Jordan Fairlie earned his third shutout of the season after turning away all 29 shots he faced from the Vees.
Prince George improves their record to 17-12-2-1 and moves into the fourth spot of the Interior Division standings. Meanwhile, the Vees get handed their third loss of the season and now post a record of 30-3-0-0.
The game was a flipped script from the earlier meeting of the weekend doubleheader between the two clubs where the Vees scored a trio of goals to shutout Prince George on Friday (Jan. 6).
Just one night removed from going zero-for-five on the powerplay, the Spruce Kings scored twice on the powerplay Saturday night while holding the Vees’ league-leading powerplay off the scoreboard.
The game was scoreless through the first period, however, a too-many-men penalty put Prince George on the powerplay with two seconds remaining in the opening period.
Prince George’s powerplay capitalized in the early moments of the second period as Ty Gagno opened the scoring 36 seconds in. The goal was Gagno’s seventh of the season with John Herrington and Jake Schneider earning assists on the play.
The Spruce Kings added to their lead a few minutes later with some insurance. John Herrington added to his team-leading point total with his 17th goal of the season at 4:55 of the period. Kilian McGregor-Bennett and Charlie Banquier earned the helpers on the scoring play.
In the third period, the Spruce Kings got back onto the powerplay following an interference penalty to Josh Nadeau. Jake Schneider carried the puck around the top of the offensive zone before cutting down the right slot and firing a shot in past Di Pasquo for a 3-0 lead. Herrington tallied his third point of the night with another assist. Ben LeFranc also earned an assist on the play.
Trailing by three, the Vees committed four penalties in the remaining time of the third period, including a misconduct to captain Frank Djurasevic, as the Spruce Kings held on for a 3-0 victory, becoming just the third team to defeat Penticton so far this season.
The Spruce Kings will hit the road for their next game against the West Kelowna Warriors on Friday, January 13. It will be the first of a two-game road trip with another trip south of the border to take on the Wenatchee Wild the following night on January 14.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Spruce Kings: Gagno, Herrington, Schneider
Vees: None
Goaltending
Spruce Kings: Jordan Fairlie (W) 60:00 (29-save shutout)
Vees: Luca Di Pasquo (L) 60:00 (3 GA, 18 saves)
Power-Play
Spruce Kings: 2/5 (40%)
Vees: 0/3 (0%)
Shots
Spruce Kings: 29
Vees: 21
Next Game: Friday, January 13th versus the West Kelowna Warriors at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna, BC.
