Stretching out their lead
Win by Spruce Kings creates five-point gap on second-place Surrey in Mainland Division
Another win over an divisional opponent. Another step closer to their first-ever B.C. Hockey League banner. The Prince George Spruce Kings did all that Friday night when they defeated the Chilliwack Chiefs 3-2 in front of a season-high crowd of 1,443 at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
The win moved the Spruce Kings (26-154-4) five points ahead of the second-place Surrey Eagles in the race for the BCHL Mainland Division regular-season crown.
“It’s a big win for us, seeing them three times real quick here, it’s a big deal,” said Spruce Kings left winger Blake Hayward, the FortisBC energy player of the game, who had his parents up from Vancouver for the game.
“It’s possible we might see them in the playoffs and it’s awesome to win in front of nearly 1,500 fans. This is the biggest part of the season for us, we only have nine games left. The Spruce Kings have never won a division in the BCHL and that’s our first goal and we’re really aware of that.”
Liam Watson-Brawn’s decision to join the rush to create a 3-on-2 chance 15 minutes into the second period paid off when he snapped in his fourth goal of the season, which turned out the game-winner.
Patrick Cozzi and Ben Brar also scored for Prince George. Corey Andonovki and Harrison Blaisdell accounted for the Chiefs’ scoring.
Cozzi and Hayward hooked up on a 2-on1 opportunity to stake the Spruce Kings to a 1-0 lead, 7:27 into the game. The Kings took advantage of their four power-play chances in the opening period to add to the count. The Chiefs were two men down when Brar one-timed a pass from pointman Layton Ahac for a 2-0 lead. The goal, Brar’s 23rd this season, came just as Jake Gresh was getting set to leave the penalty box, with teammate Jared Turcotte still serving his hooking penalty.
The Chiefs fell behind 3-0 with 15 minutes gone in the second period. WatsonBrawn joined the rush after Ben Poisson’s persistence in his own end sprung Ethan de Jong into open ice on the left side. De Jong waited until Watson-Brawn got into position and fed him a perfect pass.
The Chiefs offered significant pushback right after the goal and after a couple good chances, Andonovski got to a fat rebound after Gresh had forced Evan DeBrouwer to make a difficult save. Andonovski’s goal, his 14th, came 56 seconds after Watson-Brawn had scored.
Outshot 15-5 in the first period, the Chiefs reversed the trend in the second period. They pounded nine pucks at DeBrouwer while the Kings managed just two shots on Mathieu Caron in the period. One of them was Watson-Brawn’s goal.
“We got ripped a little bit by our coach (Adam Maglio) after the first, but Evan hung in there, he’s the best goalie in the league, he’s a rock for us every night,” said Hayward.
Leading 3-1, the Kings got back on the gas pedal in the third period and their top line – de Jong, Poisson and Brar – set the tone, using their footspeed and aggression to force turnovers and create chances. They came within a Poisson crossbar from adding to the lead midway through the period but the Chiefs were not about to go away quietly.
They created traffic and several frenzied situations while controlling the puck in Kings’ end. DeBrouwer bailed his team out with some timely saves but was outnumbered by Chiefs when they swarmed the net with Caron on the bench for the extra skater.
Blaisdell trapped a Kings’ clearing attempt in the crease and batted the puck past a fallen DeBrouwer to make it a one-goal game with 42 seconds left, but the Chiefs ran out of time trying for the equalizer.
The same teams meet again tonight at RMCA. Game time is 7 p.m.
Chilliwack (22-20-2-3) remains fourth in the Mainland, 11 points behind Prince George. The Spruce Kings, who were coming off a 5-1 win Sunday in Chilliwack, got some help out of town when the Trail Smoke Eaters defeated the Langley Rivermen 8-1 Friday in Trail. The Rivermen (21-16-10-2, third in Mainland) are now six points back of the Spruce Kings.