They say revenge is a dish best served cold.
The Prince George Spruce Kings certainly used the old saying to their advantage on Saturday tying up their best-of-seven first round series against the Chilliwack Chiefs at 1-1 after a 2-0 victory from the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA).
For the most part, game two looked a lot like the opening matchup as it was tough, physical and tight-checking to the say the least.
However, the improved and patient effort from the Spruce Kings paid off 32 seconds into the third period when Jay Keranen started and finished an offensive zone sequence for his first career BCHL goal, ripping it past Chiefs netminder Daniel Chenard.
Keranen began the rush with an flip pass to Ethan de Jong who then returned the favor allowing the 19-year-old blueliner to rip it top shelf.
“I missed one of those this year and I was making sure that one was going in, I was shaking and it was awesome.”
HIS FIRST BCHL GOAL!
?Jay Keranen (1)
?Ethan de Jong1-0 Prince George
— Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) March 4, 2018
Prince George received a much-needed rebound performance from 20-year-old goaltender Evan DeBrouwer who picked up his first shoutout of the playoffs less than 24 hours after Chenard did the same in game 1.
DeBrouwer admits he was less than satisfied with his play in game one and wanted to shore a few of the finer details in his game.
“I went out during the morning skate and worked on some puck tracking but the biggest thing was I just tried to battle more tonight and fighting to see pucks more and I was able to do that, my defense made it really easy on me and they were awesome.”
Chilliwack was unable to get many quality scoring chances around the Prince George net late in the game and eventually gave up the empty-netter to Ben Brar who sealed the deal.
A skirmish broke out after the goal as Brar and Will Calverley received unsportsmanlike penalties by the officials.
The series shifts to Chilliwack for games three and four Monday and Tuesday.
DeBrouwer is fully aware of the challenges the Chiefs will bring but is confident his team will pull through.
“They are going to bring it and we’re going to have to bring it as well, I think we are the better and if we play our game and compete as hard as we can we are going to win.”
Game five will be played on Thursday at 7 PMÂ back
in Prince George.
