Photo Credit: Vicki Brown
PRINCE GEORGE- After coming close Friday night, the Prince George Spruce Kings got back in the win collum Saturday, beating the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 5-3 at Kopar Memorial Arena.
The biggest storyline heading into Saturday night was the Spruce Kings roster move, adding Trent Ballentyne (’04), who joins Prince George after starting the season with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL.
The newest Spruce King didn’t take long to make an impact. Five minutes into the first period, Ballentyne scooped up a puck in neutral ice, making no mistake and beating Silverbacks goalie Eli Pulver (’03) on the glove side.
Moments later, Salmon Arm got their only goal of the first frame. Jacob Bonkowski (’03) ripped his third goal of the season past Ryan Sanborn (’05).
Later in the first period, Alex Coventry (’06) scored his first goal of the season, beating Pulver from the point. Then Skogen Schrott (’05) scored the third Spruce Kings goal of the first period. 3-1 the score after 20 minutes at Kopar Memorial Arena.
In the second period, the only goal came off the stick of Scott Cousins (’04). With the man advantage, the Spruce Kings collapsed towards the net, and Prince George native Scott Cousins was the last to poke it, scoring his third goal of the season. 4-1, the Spruce King led after two periods.
In the final frame, the Spruce Kings were outshot 19-3. However, that doesn’t mean Prince George was held off the scoreboard. Kilian McGregor-Bennett (’03) took a pass from Owen Goodgrand (’04) and did the rest himself, beating Pulver for his fifth goal of the season.
Salmon would score twice late in the third period, but they close the gap any further. 5-3, the final score in Prince George.
It was a needed weekend for the Spruce Kings, who picked up three of the four available points, improving their record to 2-3-3-0.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Prince George: T. Ballentyne (1), A. Coventry (1), S. Schrott (3), S. Cousins (3), K. McGregor-Bennett (5)
Salmon Arm: J. Bonkowski (3), M. Broberg (1), N. Wellenreiter (1)
Goaltending
Ryan Sanborn: (W) 60:00 (3GA 36 saves)
Eli Pulver: (L) 60:00 (5GA 28 saves)
Power-play
Prince George: 1/3
Salmon Arm: 1/3
