The battle of the top two teams to conclude preliminary action at the National Junior A Championship certainly didn’t disappoint.
In front of a standing room only crowd at the Centennial Regional Arena, the Brooks Bandits exacted revenge on the Prince George Spruce Kings winning by a 3-1 score on Thursday, running the table heading into Saturday’s semi-final matchup.
“We came out with a slow third period. I got that one late and we had all the momentum going into the intermission and I think we only put up four or five shots in the third period and I don’t think that is good enough so I think we needed to come out with a stronger third and that was the story tonight,” said Nick Poisson to MYPGNOW.
“I think the game meant a bit more to them because they were playing on home ice. They have been good at home all year long and I think that is something they take pride in the same we take pride in playing in front of our fans.”
.@SpruceKings Forward Nick Poisson with @mypgnow after 3-1 loss to the @BrooksBandits @HC_NJAC @GoBCHL #CityOfPG #sports #NJAC pic.twitter.com/bnqGdCrNXh
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) May 17, 2019
The Bandits opened the scoring in the first period as Carter Wolski shot a squeaker past the short side of Prince George netminder Logan Neaton.
Nick Poisson continued to ride the hot stick for the Spruce Kings late in the middle frame re-directing a Dylan Anhorn point shot past Bandits goalie Pierce Charleson.
.@mypgnow catches up with @SpruceKings Dylan Anhorn after 3-1 defeat to the @BrooksBandits to cap off round robin of @HC_NJAC #cityofPG #sports #NJAC pic.twitter.com/WU8E4xosC6
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) May 17, 2019
In the third, Andrew Lucas played the hero for the Bandits tipping home a rebound past Neaton to re-take the lead.
Brandon Scanlin added the empty-netter for the hosts.
“I like how we played, I believe it was similar to games two and three that were here against a real hard team to play against in Prince George and I think we are a hard team to play against here so it’s fun to be back at home but they do present a huge challenge for us,” said Ryan Papaioannou, Bandits Head Coach and GM.
“When you lose three in a row like we did against them after just losing three times all season it shook our guys a little bit.”
Prince George now gets ready for its semi-final matchup against the Oakville Blades from the CRA at 6pm while Bandits elected to play the early semi-final at 1pm against the Ottawa Junior Senators.
MYPGNOW’s Brendan Pawliw is providing extensive coverage of the tournament.
PG SPRUCE KINGS NATIONAL SCHEDULE:
Sunday, May 12th: PG Spruce Kings vs. Oakville Blades (1:00 PT) 5-1 win
Monday, May 13th: PG Spruce Kings vs. Ottawa Jr. Senators (6:00 PT) 4-0 win
Wednesday, May 15th: PG Spruce Kings vs. Portage Terriers (6:00 PT) 5-1 win
Thursday, May 16th: PG Spruce Kings vs. Brooks Bandits (6:00 PT) 3-1 loss
The final goes Sunday, May 19th at 2:00 p.m. PT.
.@BrooksBandits bench boss Ryan Papaioannou speaks with the media @mypgnow after 3-1 victory over @SpruceKings @HC_NJAC #cityofpg #sports #NJAC pic.twitter.com/rT3WUmmY6A
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) May 17, 2019
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