On a night where both Prince George junior hockey teams were playing important playoff games on home ice, only one team claimed bragging rights.
A three-goal third period highlighted by a mad scramble poke by Ryan Watchtel propelled the Spruce Kings to a hard-fought 4-1 Game 7 victory over the Langley Rivermen in front of 1,017 fans at the Kopar Memorial Arena.
On this special edition of two-for Tuesday, Prince George and the Rivermen set the tempo following the opening puck drop going nearly five minutes without a whistle in the first period.
Thanks to the stellar goaltending of fellow 20-year-olds Colin Reay (PG) and Eric Young (Rivermen), the passionate downtown crowd were forced to hold their breath for the first sign of meaningful offense.
It finally came at the 6:50 mark of the second period as Charlie Lake product Mason Loewen parked himself in front of the Rivermen goal and re-directed a well-placed Evan Bellamy point shot past the screened Young for a 1-0 edge.
HAND-EYE ON DISPLAY 🔥
Mason Loewen tips it top corner
🎙️ @KCAndo23 #BCHL | @SpruceKings pic.twitter.com/x8rv0nj5jW
— BCHL (@BCHockeyLeague) April 15, 2026
The line of Loewen, River Arnason and Carter Hesselgrave finished the series with 14 points in seven outings, not bad for a so-called “checking line”.
“It comes down to two guys with a lot of experience in this league and understanding what it takes to win a playoff series and one player that has grown up in our program this year. He (River) has kind of bought in just not being a skilled player but knowing how to play 200-feet,” said Brad Tesink, Spruce Kings head coach.
“I thought his (Arnason) tracking tonight was excellent and it led to opportunities for both those other guys.
Arnason, a 17-year-old from Winnipeg, was scratched from the lineup in Friday’s Game 5 loss to the Rivermen. Since that time, Arnason played his best hockey scoring clutch goals for the BCHL club.
“All of those guys have bought into the process. He understood that it might not have been his night in Game 5 and I want guys that want to be in the lineup. He pushed himself over those few days that we had to put him right back in. It was a given, he scored some very big goals for us but we he showed over the course of Game 6 and 7, kudos to him – resilent.” added Tesink.
Once again, Prince George dictated the play to Langley, spending most of the middle stanza in enemy ice, outshooting them 16-7.
However, the heroics of Young would keep the visitors within ear shot. Right after the Loewen marker, the Spruce Kings had an odd man rush a shift or two later only to be turned aside by Young.
After playing the rope-a-dope for the better part of two periods, the Rivermen woke up from its second period nap and converted on a hard corner shot from Sam Giangualano, squeaking the puck past Reay, who didn’t hug the post tight enough, making it a 1-1 game.
THROW THE PUCK ON GOAL, GOOD THINGS HAPPEN 🤷
Giangualano gets the Riv even
🎙️ @KCAndo23 #BCHL | @LangleyRivermen pic.twitter.com/byqhe1V8vR
— BCHL (@BCHockeyLeague) April 15, 2026
However, the nervous moments among the crowd only lasted for two minutes.
A strong individual rush by Trent LeDrew backed off the Langley defence and allowed Wachtel to crash the crease and find the loose puck past Young for a 2-1 edge.
“We have an old group and we are incredibly confident. We know no matter what we are still in a game. We kept pushing and we ended up finding a couple,” said Loewen post-game to MyPGNow.com.
Over a minute later, Arnason made it 3-1 as he capitalized on the yeoman’s work in the trenches from Loewen and Hesselgrave.
Off a great individual effort by Loewen, the Rink Hockey Academy grad tapped home the loose puck past Young.
“We were hard on the forecheck. We knew that one more goal would put them away. The forwards checked hard and it bounced forward and Loewen with the beautful pass.”
Arnason took ownership of his not-so-stellar play in Games 3 and 4 at the George Preston Arena and got his mojo back soon afterward.
“I took a look at where I could be better and I brought that for Games six and seven and played my game.”
Rivermen head coach Brad Rihella put all his cards on the table and pulled Young for the extra-attacker with over three minutes to play.
The strategy didn’t work as Marcus Lougheed notched his second goal in as many games lifting the puck high and down the ice into the Rivermen empty net to make it a 4-1 contest.
In Game 7, you often need some unsung heroes to step up and fill an important role. Look no further than 19-year-old forward Spencer Masters who was rocked solid playing the power-forward game to a tee playing with Mathis Laplante and rookie Adam Crosby.
“When you can take a kid with that much junior experience and put him on your fourth line, he was able to take a player like Mathis Laplante, they have been a great duo all season long as well as Adam Crosby who brought some youthfulness to that line. I thought they did a lot of the right things by being heavy on pucks early and allowing us to roll four lines.”
The Spruce Kings outshot Langley 39-25. Both teams went a combined 0-for-5 on the power-play.
JUST LIKE THAT PG ARE UP BY 2! 🌲
Loewen fights off the defender and banks it off Arnason in front
🎙️ @KCAndo23 #BCHL | @SpruceKings pic.twitter.com/nrjrnFTbIm
— BCHL (@BCHockeyLeague) April 15, 2026
PG now advances to the second round where they will host the Chilliwack Chiefs Friday (7pm) and Saturday 6pm) at the Kopar Memorial Arena.
A big question will be who will get the nod in goal for the Spruce Kings? Overager Colin Reay, who has a 4-1 record this postseason with 2.01 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
Ryder Green, who carried the number one job for a good chunk of the season, is 0-2 in postseason play with 3.11 goals against average and a .889 save percentage. He was the goalie of record in Games one and four where PG fell by scores of 2-0 and 4-3.
Either way, Tesink expects both to appear at various points in the Chilliwack series.
“Our guys have bought into the process where it’s Colin or Ryder. It could have been either or for Games 5,6 and 7. Obviously, Reay had a chance to win a couple games in the series and was feeling it a little in Game six – we needed him for seven, but Ryder is ready to go. I anticipate seeing both those guys in the series at some point.”
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