A three-goal outburst in the second period propelled the Prince George Spruce Kings to an 8-2 victory over Chilliwack at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA).
Saturday’s contest strongly resembled Friday’s 5-5 opening night tie.
Only this time, the Spruce Kings put their foot on the gas and never looked back.
“I think we were a little more consistent tonight through the whole game – we did have a lapse for about eight minutes, but other than that I thought we were consistent through the game. We’re a resilient group that keeps bouncing back,” says Spruce Kings Head Coach Adam Maglio.
Prince George chased Chilliwack goaltender Daniel Chenard from the net after three quick goals from Layton Ahac, Ben Brar, and Shawn Kennedy put them ahead 5-2 after 40 minutes.
“Since day one, we have had a connection on the ice with Adam as our coach and Kyle (Johnson) as our leader and with a lot of guys coming back it has been great,” says forward Ethan De Jong.
Prince George was even at two for the first half of the game, courtesy of Ryan Stack and Ben Poisson.
The exclamation point came in the third when Chiefs Head Coach Jason Tatarnic decided to pull backup netminder Mathieu Caron three consecutive times in the period, resulting in a trio of empty netters for the Spruce Kings.
De Jong, Jarod Hovde, and Dustin Manz all tickled the twine for the homeside.
Poisson says a result like this will force the rest of the BCHL to take notice after scoring 13 goals in their first two games.
“I think we knew we were a good team coming out and facing them kind of showed that we are going to be one of the top teams in the league this year.”
As for the strange sequence of empty netters, Poisson says they’re more than happy to cash in if teams are willing to take that chance.
“I have never seen that happy before but we’ll take it. It’s probably not the smartest move on their part but if they do it we will score.”
The Spruce Kings continue their four-game home stand next Friday and Saturday, both with 7 p.m. puck-drops, against another Mainland Division rival in the Surrey Eagles.
-Spruce Kings
