The Prince George Spruce Kings (17-12-2-1) will be on the road for a pair of road games this weekend, beginning at Royal LePage Place when they take on the West Kelowna Warriors Friday night, before wrapping up against the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. WEST KELOWNA (WARRIORS LEAD SEASON SERIES 2-1)
Friday, November 25th @ Kopar Memorial Arena (2-1 Spruce Kings) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, November 26th @ Kopar Memorial Arena (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, December 7th @ Royal LePage Place (6-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, January 13th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, March 10th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. WENATCHEE (SPRUCE KINGS LEAD SEASON SERIES 3-1)
Friday, October 28th @ Kopar Memorial Arena (4-3 Spruce Kings) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 29th @ Kopar Memorial Arena (2-1 Spruce Kings) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 30th @ Town Toyota Center (5-4 OT Spruce Kings) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, December 31st @ Town Toyota Center (6-5 OT Wild) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, January 14th @ Town Toyota Center (6:05 PM)
The Spruce Kings come into this weekend after splitting last weekend’s series against the Penticton Vees. Two games at Kopar Memorial Arena were polar opposites when it came to the boxscore, however, they were on par when it came down to effort from the Spruce Kings. Friday night, the Spruce Kings held the Vees off the board for two periods until Penticton scored three goals in the third period to win 3-0. On Saturday, in another tightly contested battle, Jordan Fairlie was the goalie earning the shutout as PG became the first team this season to shutout the Vees in a 3-0 final, handing Penticton just their third loss of the season.
Prince George’s special teams will be looking to continue the momentum picked up in their win over Penticton. On Saturday, the Spruce Kings were 40 per cent on the powerplay and kept the league-leading powerplay at bay. Prior to Saturday, the Spruce Kings powerplay was operating at 19 per cent since the beginning of December while their penalty kill was a mere 65 per cent, slumping from the league’s top units.
Spruce Kings Leading Scorers:
John Herrington (17-13-30)
Jake Schneider (12-13-25)
Austin Fraser (8-15-23)
Luca Primerano (6-16-22)
Kilian McGregor-Bennett (7-14-21)
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jaiden Moriello (18-11-29)
Rylee Hlusiak (7-19-26)
Ben MacDonald (11-13-24)
Isaiah Norlin (3-21-24)
Michael Salandra (9-13-22)
The West Kelowna Warriors sit in third place of the Interior Division standings with a record of 18-10-4-0, three points ahead of the Spruce Kings in fourth place. In their last 10 games, the Warriors have posted a record of 5-3-2-0.
The Warriors will rebrand to their neighbours from the south for one game and honour the Town of Peachland with special peach-coloured jerseys to mark the occasion Friday night. This is the second year the Warriors have collaborated and turned into the Peachland Warriors, doing so last season against Prince George.
The last meeting between these two was a mid-week matchup earlier in December when the Warriors doubled up on the Spruce Kings in a 6-3 final at Royal LePage Place. Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick Luke Devlin put up a three-point night, tallying a goal and two assists.
Friday’s game can be streamed online on BCHLTV.ca, and will also be broadcasted on 99.3 REWIND Radio with the Spruce Kings Pre-Game Show beginning at 6:45 PM.
Wild Leading Scorers:
Ean Somoza (11-34-45)
Cade Littler (18-23-41)
Parker Murray (17-12-29)
David Hejduk (5-21-26)
Micah Berger (14-11-25)
Heading into Saturday, the Spruce Kings may just find themselves with a bit of an advantage on Wenatchee as the Wild will be getting ready for their third game in four days, and will be returning back to Wenatchee following a game in Cranbrook Friday night.
The Spruce Kings were in Wenatchee for a pair of games at the end of December where the two sides combined for 20 goals in two games, and both teams earned three points in the standings after splitting a pair of overtime games.
Saturday’s game against the Wild will conclude Prince George’s five-game season series against Wenatchee. The game can be streamed online on BCHLTV.ca.
