Kyle Johnson made sure he left everything out on the ice against the Surrey Eagles.
The 19-year-old captain of the Prince George Spruce Kings came through in a big way Thursday with three points giving the hosts a convincing 4-1 victory at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena in front of 1,348 fans.
The Eagles lead the BCHL Mainland Division final 3-2.
Johnson scored the all-important first goal against Eagles goaltender Mario Cavaliere at 10:43, to set the tone on what was a dominating effort at home in game five.
“I think we knew the season wasn’t ending tonight at home, we were confident in our game and our play and it really showed on the ice. We put a good effort forward.”
.@SpruceKings on the board first in Game 5 against the @SurreyEagles; Captain Kyle Johnson makes it 1-0… team down 3-1 in #BCHL Mainland Division Finals | #CityOfPG #Sports pic.twitter.com/0xRpRWQdlP
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 23, 2018
After a pair of sub par outings in the South Surrey Arena resulting in both losses, the Spruce Kings had their backs up against the wall for the second time in the 2018 BCHL Playoffs.
Prince George got some much-needed insurance on the power-play in the middle period from Dustin Manz and Blake Hayward to extend their lead to 3-0 after 40 minutes – outshooting Surrey 28-9 in the process.
.@SpruceKings’ Dustin Manz increases lead to 2-0 on the @SurreyEagles in the 2nd period; scores with skates off the ice | #CityOfPG #Sports pic.twitter.com/5A6ytMRwHD
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 23, 2018
The banged-up Eagles, who had three affiliate players dressed for the game, leaned heavily on players like Jackson Ross and Owen Norton along with Surrey’s top forward line of Desi Burgart, Ty Westgard and Johnny Wesley.
Johnson believes the team’s physical approach to the game could turn the tide.
“It’s something we are aware of and we have to take advantage of that because we want to have all the legs in game six and then hopefully game seven afterwards.”
The Spruce Kings will now hop back on the bus Friday to extend the season once more and try to overcome the team’s most daunting task – winning on the Olympic-sized ice in Surrey where they are 0-6 all season.
“I think the last 40 minutes of game four was an indicator where we started to figure out the olympic ice and that was probably the best thing we could take from our trip down there despite two losses as we knew we got better on that ice and our chances moving forward are going to be much better,” added Johnson.
Patrick Cozzi added another single for the Spruce Kings while Burgart potted his 10th of the postseason for Surrey.
The Eagles were outshot 37-19 in the game.
Prince George went two-for-five on the power-play.
Puck drop for game six is at 7 PM on Saturday.
If a game seven is needed, it would be played Sunday at 7 PM from the RMCA.
.@SpruceKings salute RMCA crowd in what could be their last home game of the year; they still trail @SurreyEagles 3-2 in the #BCHL Mainland Division Finals | #CityOfPG #Sports pic.twitter.com/pBFjW0pJqZ
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 23, 2018