(Photo Courtesy: Vicki Brown, MyLight Sports Photography)
PRINCE GEORGE- Game two of the doubleheader between the Prince George Spruce Kings (24-19-4-1) and the Vernon Vipers (18-24-3-3) on Saturday night at Kopar Memorial Arena resulted in a 3-0 shutout loss for PG.
In the sixth and second-to-last meeting between the Kings and Vipers, Vernon clinched a spot in the BCHL playoffs in a hard-fought victory.
Vernon goaltender Ethan David stopped 27 shots to earn his third shutout of the season.
In the first period, Spruce Kings had to kill an early tripping penalty to Charlie Banquier which resulted in Luke Pakulak tipping a shot past Spruce Kings goaltender Jordan Fairlie 1:29 into the opening period to get the icebreaker for Vernon.
In the second period, the Spruce Kings found themselves on the man advantage which they would fail to score. With 4:50 left to play in the middle frame, Vernon’s Thomas Tien doubled their lead off a rebound with help from Julian Facchinelli.
In the final frame, Jake Schneider tried to make a bank pass to Amran Bhabra, however, the puck instead ended up getting intercepted by Vernon’s Reagan Milburn and taken back the other way. He took advantage of the turnover and snuck the puck past Fairlie’s pad to seal the win for Vernon.
Spruce Kings and Vipers meet for the last time this season on Saturday, March 11th at Kal Tire Place in Vernon, B.C.
GAME SUMMARY:
Scoring
Spruce Kings: None
Vipers: Pakulak, Tien, Milburn
Goaltending
Spruce Kings: Jordan Fairlie (L) 57:59 (3GA, 18 saves)
Vipers: Ethan David (W) 60:00 (0GA, 27 saves)
Power-play
Spruce Kings: 0/3 (0%)
Vipers: 2/2 (100%)
Shots
Spruce Kings: 27
Vipers: 21
Next Game: Friday, March 10th versus the West Kelowna Warriors at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna, BC.
