Layton Ahac seems to have a flare for the dramatic.
For the second game in a row, the 16-year old rookie defenceman netted the winning goal for the Prince George Spruce Kings as they skated to a 3-2 overtime victory against the Merritt Centennials on Wednesday from the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
A Patrick Cozzi pass setup Ahac from the point who blasted it past Centennials goaltender Jacob Berger and into the top shelf.
“It was just a good team win, we stuck to the game plan even though a couple of calls went against us but got the win so we are happy,” said Ahac.
He now has nine points in his first 12 BCHL games.
Spruce Kings head coach Adam Maglio says his maturity on and off the ice is nothing short of impressive.
“He’s unreal. You can see his off-ice maturity just by how he plays the game and at the end of the day he is a high performance kid in all aspects from the way he handles himself, the way he is in the room and on the ice. It’s a big benefit to us to have a kid that age who can play those kind of minutes and contribute the way he does.”
Prince George found themselves trailing for a good chunk of the and found themselves down 2-1 with six minutes left in the third when Nolan Welsh slid home a Cozzi feed past Berger to tie up the game at 2-2 to force overtime.
In the first period, Ethan de Jong put the Spruce Kings on the board just 1:37 into the opening frame after lifting a high shot over the goalie and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Merritt tied things up later in the period courtesy of Sam Miller who let a point shot go past goaltender Evan DeBrouwer.
The lone goal in the second period Alex Bourhas who tucked home a rebound to give the Centennials a 2-1 lead.
However, the turning point in the game came later in the period when Zach Court was stopped on a penalty shot by DeBrowuer.
Prince George picked up two wins and a tie during their three game homestand.
The Spruce Kings head south for a weekend road trip against the Surrey Eagles on Friday followed by a showdown with the Langley Rivermen on Saturday.
Maglio adds it will be nice to get away and to not feel the need to play to fancy on the road. “I have a lot of concern of where we were turning the puck over on the ice. I think we need a simple game on the road and to just grind it out for 60 minutes.”
Both teams went a combined 0-9 on the power-play.
The next home game for the Spruce Kings is November 3 against Langley.
-Spruce Kings
