Friday
Prince George entered Wenatchee searching for their first win south of the border this season. On night one they didn’t find it falling 6-1 to the Wild in the Town Toyota Centre.
Turning Point: The turning point came early into the game, as Prince George had an opportunity just under eight minutes in on the power play. With Colin Burston in the box for roughing, the Spruce Kings matched up against the league’s top ranked penalty kill. Wenatchee was able to kill off the man advantage with relative ease, and wound up scoring just a minute after the penalty expired.
Both at even strength, Joseph Drabin and Troy Conzo scored within three minutes to double a lead heading into the second.
Prince George would get off to an ideal start to the middle frame, as Braiden Epp collected the puck in his zone, and fired up to Ben Poisson racing up the left side. The Burnaby Winter Club committed player kept on track, and was able to find a hole between the legs of Perry for his first BCHL goal/point.
Responding a few minutes later though was the Spruce Kings killer Dakota Raabe, as he scored his sixth goal against Prince George to double the lead once again. In seven games this season, Raabe has eight points, and has just two games where he hasn’t scored (including Saturday night’s loss). Most of the work was done by Charlie Combs though, as he burst down the right side, and steamed towards the net. McCloskey lost control of the puck, and it wound up sitting in the crease for Raabe to tap in.
In the third, Wenatchee would add a pair within the first three and a half minutes to snap any hopes of the PG comeback. That would be the end of the night for Liam McCloskey as he was pulled after allowing five goals on 24 shots. Joseph McLeod came in for relief, and surrendered one goal on eight shots while playing 16:33.
That final goal came off the stick of Kyle Stephan, as he cut in from the right boards, and beat McLeod blocker side to seal the game at 6-1.
Wenatchee had six different goal scorers, and Chase Perry made 16 saves for the win. Perry played in the first six games this year against Prince George, and has allowed a combined six goals in those games, including a pair of shutouts.
Saturday
Following a 6-1 defeat the night before, the Spruce Kings responded brilliantly. They had a pair of unlucky goals go against them that sent the game to overtime, and got a spectacular game from Liam McCloskey who made 40 saves following getting pulled on Friday.
In the first, Prince George had two power plays, while Wenatchee had two and a half where the other half transferred to the second period, but neither team was able to score.
The Wild would score the first goal, as just 1:50 into the 2nd August Von Ungern was able to jam the puck in. Liam McCloskey thought he had the puck under his pad, but the linesmen disagreed, and never blew the whistle until after the goal.
It took Prince George 14:52 to get their first shot of the second period, but they made it count. Tanner Campbell in his first game back since suffering a lower body injury against Langley a few weeks ago led a two on one with Parker Colley. With Colley hustling to the net, he was able to draw the defender away, and Campbell spotted Kyle Johnson as the trailer. Wenatchee was one of the three teams in the BCHL Johnson didn’t have a point against, but he changed that with a shot past the blocker of Garrett Nieto playing in net for the first time against Prince George this season.
Prince George would take their first lead of the weekend, as Adam Burnett poked the puck ahead at the Wild blueline, and Cavin Tilsley picked it up beating Nieto five hole on a power play in the third. The goal doubled Tilsley’s team lead in PPG, as he now has four with the nearest teammate at two.
Wenatchee would continue pushing, and extending their shot dominance. The eventual tying goal was a goofy one from the blueline, as Von Ungern slid the puck around the boards to Tyler Rockwell at the left point. Rockwell shot the puck about two metres wide left of the net, but wound up taking a deflection, and beating McCloskey to tie the game at two with 5:58 remaining in the third period.
That would take the Spruce Kings to extra time, where they hadn’t won in four attempts heading in. With three losses and a tie, Prince George would again fall flat as Troy Conzo cut to the slot, and fired a puck into the net for a big home ice win.
Wenatchee outshot the Spruce Kings 43-10.
Sunday
In their third game in as many nights, the Spruce Kings got off to a slow start, and couldn’t recover.
Returning from injury, Luca Leona contributed in a big way, as just 1:01 into the first period he was able to get a shot off that clipped McCloskey, and beat him for the 1-0 lead.
Neither team would muster up much offence for the rest of the period, combining for just 10 shots overall.
In the second it was Coquitlam doubling their lead as Blake Hayward rushed down the left wing, and sent a perfect saucer pass across to Austin McIlmurray racing on the right side. McIlmurray was just able to get his stick out in time to put a shot past McCloskey.
Then to finish the period off, Owen Stout scored with just 57.6 seconds remaining to give Coquitlam a 3-0 lead heading to the final period.
Entering the game, Prince George had yet to win a game when trailing after two periods, with just one overtime loss to show in 32 occasions.
Playing just five minutes from his hometown, Kyle Johnson would eventually reply to get Prince George on the board. The Port Moody native picked up his second goal in as many nights 16 minutes into the third to make it a two goal game.
The Spruce Kings would earn three more power plays in the third, but were unable to beat Lawson Fenton again. With 17 seconds left and PG pressing, the Express were able to break the other way on a 3-on-1, and McIlmurray tapped home his second of the game.
With the win, Coquitlam won the season series 4-3. Prince George won twice at home, and once on the road for their three victories.
