Spruce Kings fend off Grizzlies
PRINCE GEORGE 2 VICTORIA 1
The Prince George Spruce Kings were looking for revenge on Friday night against the Victoria Grizzlies, and they got it.
The Spruce Kings, who lost 5-0 to Victoria at the B.C. Hockey League Showcase in September, returned the favour and beat the Grizzlies 2-1 in front of 1,076 fans at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena in downtown Prince George.
The Spruce Kings, who improve to 15-10-2-3, scored goals in the first and second periods, before T.J. Friedmann struck on the power play early in the third period for the Grizzlies, who fall to 14-11-2-1 on the season.
Ryan Stack opened the scoring for Prince George six minutes into the opening period, beating netminder Zack Rose with a onetimer from the slot.
The Grizzlies made a push in the second period, but against the play, Ethan de Jong scored his 12th of the season for the Spruce Kings.
After Friedmann tallied his ninth of the season, the Grizzlies again pressured the Spruce Kings but couldn’t solve Prince George netminder Evan DeBrouwer, who finished with 30 saves. Rose made 34 saves in the Victoria net.
The news doesn’t get any better for Victoria as they head to Vernon today to take on the league-leading Vipers. And they’ll have to do it without three of their best players. Forwards Jamie Rome and Alex Newhook and goaltender Rose left for Calgary after Friday’s game to take part in the tryout camp for Team Canada West that will play in the World Junior A Challenge later this month in Nova Scotia. The trio will also miss Sunday afternoon’s game in Coquitlam against the Express.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Grizzlies played the first two periods Friday without their head coach behind the bench. Craig Didmon couldn’t accompany the team north on Thursday due to his teaching job with the Sooke School District so he was supposed to fly in to Prince George on Friday and arrive at game time, but his flight was delayed so he didn’t arrive at the rink until the second intermission . . . . Grizzlies forward Jordan Guiney left Friday’s game late in the first period with an upper body injury and didn’t return . . . . After this road trip, the Grizzlies will head back out on the road Wednesday, venturing to Duncan to take on the Cowichan Valley Capitals.