When in doubt just leave it to the local boy.
Corey Cunningham proved clutch once again for the Prince George Spruce Kings on Saturday leading them to a hard-fought 4-2 victory oveer the Victoria Grizzlies, giving them a 2-0 lead in the BCHL Coastal Conference Championship series.
The 17-year-old dazzled the crowd in the second period with a highlight reel goal.
He got past the Grizzlies defence and then undressed goaltender Kurtis Chapman, bringing all 1,966 fans at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena to their feet.
“The defenceman tried to take away the pass on my first goal so I just tried to use my deception and used my edges and then a I tucked it back in on my forehand and slid it in to the net.”
With three goals already in the series, Cunningham believes this is the kind of matchup where he can put his entire skill set to work.
“Victoria is really good offensively and sometimes they have more guys up on the rush then not and we can go down the other way with odd-man rushes and capatilize on our chances.”
.@SpruceKings Forward Corey Cunningham with two goals and named first star of Game 2 on Saturday against @BCHLGrizzlies in 4-2 victory @GoBCHL @mypgnow #cityofpg #sports pic.twitter.com/8g079fQXGP
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 31, 2019
Even though it was Spruce Kings coming out on top, the Grizzlies struck first as Riley Hughes beat Logan Neaton on the man-advantage to gain the 1-0 lead.
As mentioned, Cunningham led the offensive charge scoring both of his goals in the middle frame to help cap off a three goal stanza for the home side, giving them a 3-2 advantage.
In the third, neither side really gave an inch leading to a few post-whistle scrums drawing the ire of the crowd as the temperature of the game went to a boil.
Dustin Manz salted the victory away for the Spruce Kings halfway through the period with his second of the evening on a partial breakaway blowing past Victoria forward Alex Newhook and beating netminder Chapman top corner.
“We knew we had a lot more in us and we kind of talked about their power-play wanting to keep them off of it because that is one of their strong suits. It was a little hectic in the second and we battled through that and we really came back from all of those power-plays and penalty kills so it was really nice to see,” said Manz.
.@SpruceKings defeat @BCHLGrizzlies 4-2 on Saturday to take 2-0 series lead. Here is Dustin Manz with @mypgnow postgame @GoBCHL #cityofpg #sports pic.twitter.com/883y55PQE5
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 31, 2019
The Spruce Kings have done a good job to this point limiting the chances of Newhook only allowing him to have two assists in the first two games as the series shifts to Victoria for Games three and four Monday and Tuesday from The Q Centre.
Prince George outshot the Grizzlies 29-21 in the game.
The Spruce Kings overall home win streak has reached 15 games.
In the Interior Division Final, the Vernon Vipers claimed Game One in overtime by a 4-3 margin over the Wenatchee Wild on the road.
Game Two of that series goes tonight (Sunday).
Emotions ran high in Prince George as the Spruce Kings managed to take down the Victoria Grizzlies, and the Vernon Vipers needed overtime to knock off the Wenatchee Wild in the first game of their series.
Check out the highlights in tonight’s #BCHLin60! pic.twitter.com/6o9s0wvBN4
— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) March 31, 2019
Another exciting night around the Chevrolet #BCHLPlayoffs as the Vernon Vipers steal home ice advantage away from the Wenatchee Wild. Also, the Prince George Spruce Kings are heading to Victoria with a 2-0 series lead. pic.twitter.com/WBLThypiiW
— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) March 31, 2019