The Christmas break can’t come soon enough for the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The defending Fred Page and Doyle Cup champions are experiencing hard times right now, as they completed a winless five-game home stand with an 8-5 defeat Saturday night against the Coquitlam Express.
Corey Cunningham got PG off to a hot start in the first period with a pair of goals giving the hosts a leg up.
Tom Richter also added a single to expand the Spruce Kings lead to 3-0 before the halfway mark of the opening frame.
Coquitlam stormed back with a pair of their own courtesy of Greg Lapointe and Cooper Connell beating Jett Alexander to trim the deficit to 3-2.
The Express kept it rolling into the second as Connor Gregga tied the game at even strength.
Adam Trotman then gave the BCHL’s best team their first lead of the game, cashing in on the power-play, which went 2-for-4 in the contest.
Domenic Garozzo (Spruce Kings) and Ethan O’Rourke (Coquitlam) exchanged markers to wrap up the middle frame with Coquitlam leading 5-4.
In the third, the Express finally pulled away from the Spruce Kings by scoring three more times courtesy of O’Rourke, Gregga and Josh Wildauer.
Jack Watson made 16 saves in a winning cause for the Express.
Nolan Welsh potted his 12th of the season for PG who are now 11-20-2-3 on the season.
Coquitlam is a league-best 30-5-0-0.
Both teams wrap up the three game mini-series in the Lower Mainland on Wednesday at Noon from the Poirier Recreation Complex.