An unfortunate penalty call late in double overtime prevented the Prince George Spruce Kings from having a chance to get a stranglehold in their BCHL Coastal Conference Championship series against the Powell River Kings.
Ben Berard’s slap shot at 13:40 of the fifth period had just enough heat to beat the outstretched glove hand of Spruce Kings goaltender Evan DeBrouwer to secure the 3-2 victory on Monday from the Hap Parker Arena.
It was the third overtime winner of the playoffs for Berard.
In what was considered a see-saw affair, Prince George fought tooth and nail to get it to extra time after digging themselves an early hole.
Powell River lit the lamp early in the first period scoring both of their goals 14 seconds apart courtesy of Kevin Obssuth and Neal Samanski.
The Spruce Kings chipped away early in the second as Jay Keranen sniped home a point shot after accepting a pass from Patrick Cozzi to cut the deficit in half.
Kyle Johnson then evened the score in the third period, tipping home a shot from Ethan de Jong beating Kings netminder Mateo Paler-Chow.
DeBrouwer made 52 saves as Powell River outshot the guests 55-42 before 1.033 fans.
The best-of-seven series is at 2-1 for Prince George with game four set for tonight in Powell River.
Game five will be played Thursday night at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena with puck drop at 7 PM.