The veterans are setting the tone.
John Herrington, Ty Gagno and Ben Lefranc all registered multi-point efforts for the Prince George Spruce Kings in a 4-2 victory Friday night in front of 1,355 fans at the Kopar Memorial Arena.
It only took four minutes to get the skating legs working for the Spruce Kings. At 4:10 of the first period, a Herrington point shot on the power–play found its way to the top of the Vernon crease where Gagno was parked in front and deflected the puck past a screened Roan Clarke for a 1-0 edge.
Reagan Milburn of the Vipers took a needless boarding penalty against newly-acquired blueliner Kai Greaves, which led to a second consecutive man-advantage.
Less than a minute later, it was Lefranc’s turn to light the lamp as his lazy wrist shot handcuffed Clarke for a 2-0 lead.
Vernon responded with a power-play marker of their own at 8:01 as Luke Pakulak re-directed a Milburn feed past the outstretched pad of Spruce Kings goalie Jordan Fairlie.
In the second, the parade to the penalty box continued for the Vipers as they took six infractions, a recipe that led to more offensive success for PG.
Just after a Dylan Compton tripping call expired, Herrington wired a hard one-timer past Clarke to restore the two-goal advantage.
Plymouth, Minnesota product Jake Scheider would later get in on the act as his second BCHL goal extended the Spruce Kings edge to 4-1 after 40 minutes.
The chippiness between both teams boiled over in the third as Charlie Banquier leveled a pair of Vipers on the same shift, which drew the ire of Vipers defender Griffen Barr – leading to a spirited scrap and an early trip to the shower to go with it.
Isaac Tremblay added a late goal for Vernon who drops to (0-3) on the campaign.
PG outshot the Vipers 31-18 overall, including an 18-6 margin over the final two periods.
The Spruce Kings (3-0-0) went 3-for-10 on the man advantage while Vernon was 2-for-5.
Quesnel’s Carter Hesselgrave of the U-18 Cariboo Cougars was called up by PG due to injuries to Dom Murphy and Brayden Skogstad.
A pre-game ceremony was held in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Spruce Kings wore special Indigenous-themed jerseys designed by Clayton Gauthier.
Both teams play the second half of the double header tonight (Saturday) at 7pm from the Kopar Memorial Arena.