The last time Prince George played Surrey having played Langley the game before, the message was very simple. Shoot. The first time around PG had 10 shots the night before against Langley, and then replied with 42 shots against Surrey, Last Sunday against the Rivermen the Spruce Kings had 20 shots all game, and the following gane against the Eagles they had a mind boggling 65!
Justin Laforest decided that would be the game to stand on his head. The Ontario netminder didn’t make spectacular saves, but was a reliant force on the back end for an Eagles team that had allowed a league worst 191 goals against heading into the game.
Prince George also had an inexperienced lineup, as they had three callups in Arjun Badh and Noah Wozney from the Richmond Sockeyes from the PJHL as well as Chong Lee, the South Korean International playing from the Port Moody Panthers. It was Tanner Campbell’s first game for the team as well after being acquired just one day earlier from the West Kelowna Warriors in a deal that saw Jake LeBrun and Bryan Basilico go the other way. As you can see from the goal scorer’s above, he had a pretty good initiation game with the Spruce Kings.
The first period started off strong for Prince George, as they outshot the Eagles 18-7, but neither team would score. The Spruce Kings had their best chance to break the tie when Parker Colley stepped out of the box, and took a feed to go in for a breakaway, but couldn’t beat Laforest.
Skip to the second, and Prince George once again came out firing in their first shift with some quick shots against Surrey. It was the Eagles that would counter, and strike first though as Jaxon Joseph took a feed from Jeffrey Stewart and beat McCloskey to give his team the first lead of the game.
Prince George would earn two more glorious chances in the period, as Surrey took two penalties in the frame. That would send out the power play that was 0 for their last 34 man advantages. They were unsuccessful on the first opportunity, but were able to cash in on the second courtesy of Corey Hoffman passing a puck out to Tanner Campbell to snap home his first as a Spruce King.
In the final period of regulation, it looked like things would be headed to overtime until Kurt Black danced down the left wing, and saucer a pass out front for Donovan Ott to tip home for the 2-1 lead with 2:27 left in the game. That would result in Prince George pulling the goalie, which they haven’t scored a goal during this entire season. Tonight was a night for firsts though, as Chong Lee got the puck on the right wing, and passed the puck across to Campbell where he sent a wrister past Laforest. The assist gave Lee his first BCHL point in his first BCHL game.
Both overtimes would pass, with Liam McCloskey making a pair of huge glove saves, and both netminders had to stop a number of odd man rushes which you would expect when playing 4-on-4 or 3-on-3.
Heading in against Coquitlam, the Spruce Kings were looking were looking to even the season series at 3-3. Of the five games already played, three had been one goal games, with Coquitlam winning just last weekend on a late goal by Taylor Green to win the game 4-3.
To start things, it was one of the veterans on the Spruce Kings lineup. With Cameron Bertsch in the box for an early penalty, Adam Brubacher stepped into a shot, and blasted it past Lawson Fenton for the first of the night. Then it was Campbell again in the slot taking a shot that bounced off a defenders foot, and right back to him where he beat Fenton for the 2-0 lead.
Turning Point: Making his first start in net for Prince George, Joseph McLeod only had to stop five shots in the first period, but his biggest two came in the dying seconds as his side was down to three men with Ryan Fritz and Brubacher in the box. Twice, the ex-Castlegar Rebel made amazing sliding saves where he was able to stop backdoor opportunities with each toe.
To start the second period, the Spruce Kings killed off over a minute of 5-on-3, with the Express never even getting a shot away. That was stunning as Coquitlam had the best power play unit at home heading in.
Prince George would make them pay after, as Corey Hoffman on the power play flew through the slot, and was able to tip in a shot from Matt Stief for the team’s second goal of the game on the man advantage. PG would close the period at 3-0, and the team was 6-0 on the season when entering the 3rd period with a lead.
After making a number of highlight reel stops, McLeod would finally be beat as Owen Stout took a backdoor pass and was able to slide the puck into an empty net. With 4:42 left in the period, Campbell would score again in the slot to give Prince George a 4-1 lead, and it looked like things were over. The Express wouldn’t lay over though, and within a minute had scored twice to cut the lead to one. They would push from there on, but the Spruce Kings wouldn’t break, and held on for the 4-3 win.
Game Notes: It was Joseph McLeod’s first BCHL win — Tanner Campbell now has four goals in two games as a Spruce King — Win the tie last night, this marks the second time this season where the team has gotten points in two consecutive games — With his PP goal, Adam Brubacher was named 3rd star, while his billet roommate Corey Hoffman was the 1st star with a goal and two assists — The win marked Prince George’s first win of the season in Coquitlam —
With games against Surrey and Coquitlam out of the way, the Spruce Kings had their toughest test in the final game against the Chilliwack Chiefs. In four games heading in, PG had been outscored 21-5 by the 2nd best team in the BCHL. The main culprit was Jordan Kawaguchi who had 8 of his 26 goals against the Spruce Kings. He picked up two assists in the game, but wouldn’t find the twine himself.
Turning Point: Prince George nearly escaped the first period unscathed, but Adam Burnett took a late interference penalty, and the Chiefs would capitalize as Aaron O’Neill got the puck on the left side of the net, and wrapped it around up front to tuck it inside the far right post with 15 seconds left.
Less a minute into the second and the Chiefs were at it again as Jake Smith walked down the left side, and sniped it into the top left corner to double the Chiefs lead.
With Corey Hoffman and Adam Brubacher out of the game due to trades, the team was desperate for goals with their two top point getters out of the game. Matt Stief who now has the title of leading scorer would get things started as he passed the puck up to Kyle Johnson, and the Port Moody forward burst up the right wing before snapping a shot into the top left corner.
Newly acquired Tanner Campbell would pick up his fifth and sixth goals in three games, as he scored the pair to put the Spruce Kings ahead 3-2. With three goals on four shots, Jason Tetarnic yanked Matteo Esposito from the net, and put in Aidan Pelino to finish the period.
The move would work out, as Chilliwack scored twice more in the frame to retake the lead heading to the third. In his first game since being acquired from the Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Taylor Allan would score in his first game to tie things up at three, and would later add two assists in the third. Darien Craighead would score the eventual game winner with 1:40 remaining in the second when he took a feed in front of the net from Kawaguchi, and was able to beat McLeod.
Down 4-3 heading into the final frame, the Spruce Kings were still in the game, but three more goals by Chilliwack would finish any hopes, as Vimal Sukumaran, Mark Esposito, and Zach Giuttari would all score to ice the game 7-3.
