The Prince George Spruce Kings scored two power-play goals on their way to a 3-1 victory over the Langley Rivermen on Friday night in Prince George, moving within one point of the 8th and final playoff spot in the BCHL’s Coastal Conference.
After a scoreless opening period that was evenly matched, the Rivermen opened up the scoring at 6:12 of the middle frame as Keenan Ingram deflected a Hunter Curtis wrist shot past Charles Gravel.
The Spruce Kings got their third power play of the night at the 9:00 mark after a retaliatory slash behind the play, and Kazumo Sasaki fired home his 18th of the season 45 seconds later off a cross seam pass from Linden Makow. Trent LeDrew picked up the second assist.
Five minutes later, with Aidan Souligny in the box for cross-checking, Owen Goodbrand found Brock Cummings in the middle of the penalty kill unit, and his wrister beat Dylan Johnson blocker side to give the Spruce Kings the lead. LeDrew picked up the secondary assist. Shots in the second ended up 21-7 for the Spruce Kings.
The third period featured limited scoring opportunities, but the Rivermen pressed on late in the game with the net empty, but Gravel made a pair of key stops, and Cummings made a great defensive play to prevent another scoring chance.
After a Rivermen timeout, Prince George forced a turnover off the side boards as Nicolas Papineau picked off an errant pass, and he put it in the empty net to seal the game.
Charles Gravel made 20 saves in the victory. The Spruce Kings and Rivermen battle again on Saturday at 6:00 PM at Kopar Memorial Arena. BUY TICKETS HERE
