It was almost a feeling of Deja vu for the Prince George Spruce Kings as they out chanced, out shot and held the territorial advantage over their opponent only to not come away the victory.
This time, Prince George earned a 3-3 tie with the Coquitlam Express on Friday from the RMCA on Veterans Appreciation Night.
After a scoreless first period which saw the Express outshot 17-4 the game opened up offensively in the middle frame beginning with a Jamie Huber goal to give the Spruce Kings a 1-0 lead.
Just four minutes later Sam Kozlowski potted his 4th of the season from the top of the faceoff circle to tie the game at 1 beating Stefan Wornig who struggled mightily in goal giving up 3 goals on 16 shots.
Adam Burnett and Cullum Cusinato traded goals later in the period before Chong Lee tipped home a Tyler Anderson point shot to give the Spruce Kings a 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Coquitlam continued to pounce on Wornig with an early goal from Keegan Jones tying things up once again.
Prince George peppered Express goalie Lawson Fenton who was lights out for the visitors gutting a 40-24 shot differential after the first period.
Fenton’s best save came on a 2-0 in double overtime against Jarrod Hovde.
While the shot total of 57-28 was impressive to some, it was anything but for Spruce Kings Head Coach, Chad Van Diemen.
“I didn’t think we were a mentally strong hockey team tonight. I thought we carried the play and outshot them pretty badly but we had too many guys that are OK and we needed an all-around better effort to get the two points.”
“I thought we had way too many turnovers, we were trying to force pucks into spots that which ended up coming back and were pretty sloppy reloading as soon as we lost the puck by not slowing them down through the neutral zone.”
Express Goalie Lawson Fenton was the 1st star of the contest and believes his team never gave in. “It was a battle the whole way but the boys kept pushing. It was a good tie, I wish we could have gotten the win but we’ll see them tomorrow.”
Prince George remains two points up on Coquitlam for 3rd spot in the Mainland Division with a game in-hand.
Tavin Grant made 13 saves in relief.
Both teams play again on Saturday at 7PM from the RMCA.
BCHL Scoreboard
Powell River Kings 9 Cowichan Valley Capitals 0
Victoria Grizzlies 4 Chilliwack Chiefs 3 (OT)
Nanaimo Clippers 3 West Kelowna Warriors 2
Penticton Vees 4 Vernon Vipers 2
Wenatchee Wild 5 Merritt Centennials 3
Trail Smoke Eaters 4 Salmon Arm Silverbacks 2
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
