(Photo Courtesy: Garrett James)
CHILLIWACK – The Prince George Spruce Kings head into the holiday break on a losing note after they fell short of a comeback effort in a 3-2 loss against the Chilliwack Chiefs Saturday night inside the Chilliwack Coliseum.
Prince George now sits with a record of 15-11-1-1 and sits fourth in the Interior Division with 32 points. The Chiefs improve their record to 13-14-0-1 and sit fourth in the Coastal Division.
Aidan Feddema was handed his fifth loss of the season after letting in three goals on 23 shots. Lucas Szyszka earned his third win and held on for the victory in the third period after turning away 30 of Prince George’s 32 shots.
The scoring got underway in the opening period when Brayden Skogstad trailed in behind Prince George’s Jake Schneider and collected the puck in the slot, firing a shot on net and in past Szyszka. It marked the former RINK Academy product’s first goal in the BC Hockey League. Schneider earned his 10th assist of the year on the play.
Before the period was out, the Chiefs were able to tie the game up.
Following a penalty to Kilian McGregor-Bennett, the Chiefs needed just ten seconds to find the equalizer. AJ Lacroix scored his ninth goal of the season as Abram Weibe and Brady Milburn earned helpers on the play.
In the second period, Chilliwack pulled away. In his second game since being called up as an affiliate player from Fraser Valley of the BC Elite Hockey League, Brendan Ruskowski scored his first in the BCHL. Weibe and Bryan Jones assisted on the play at 9:36 of the period.
Inside the final five minutes of the period, the Chiefs added some insurance to their lead. Dylan Kinch scored at 15:08 to make it a 3-1 game. Wiebe earned his third assist of the night while Mateo Mrsic got himself a point for the night with an assist.
Down by two, Prince George was looking for a comeback in the final period of regulation.
Heading into the third period, Prince George had yet to get a powerplay opportunity as all of the Chiefs’ penalties were simultaneous with infractions by the Spruce Kings. However, in the third, a penalty to Lacroix finally saw them with the man advantage.
On the powerplay, Kai Greaves stepped up from inside the blue line and sniped a shot through traffic and into the back of the net for his third goal of the season, bringing PG to within one with over ten minutes remaining in the game.
Outshooting the Chiefs in the final period 13-2, Prince George was unable to find a way to tie the game up in time before the final horn went off, giving the Chiefs the victory for the night ahead of the holiday break.
The players will now have time to rest up and enjoy the holidays with friends and family before getting the season back up and running in time for the new year. The Spruce Kings will be back on the road on December 30 when they take on the Wenatchee Wild for the first of a two-game series south of the border.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Spruce Kings: Skogstad, Greaves
Chiefs: Lacroix, Ruskowski, Kinch
Goaltending
Spruce Kings: Aidan Feddema (L) 58:10 (3 GA, 20 saves)
Chiefs: Lucas Szyszka (W) 60:00 (2 GA, 30 saves)
Power-Play
Spruce Kings: 1/3 (33%)
Chiefs: 1/4 (25%)
Shots
Spruce Kings: 32
Chiefs: 23
Next Game: Friday, December 30th versus the Wenatchee Wild at the Toyota Centre in Wenatchee, Washington.
