Nick Bochen’s first of the BCHL Playoffs and a stellar 35-save performance from Jett Alexander was not quite enough as a late comeback from the Trail Smoke Eaters gave them a 2-1 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings in Game 1 of the BCHL playoffs at the Trail Memorial Centre in Trail.
“For a young group, I was impressed with what we did tonight,” said head coach Alex Evin. “Obviously, it would have been nice to hold on at the end, but that’s going to happen and we will look to be better in Game 2.”
1st Period:
PG: On a five-on-three, Nick Bochen received a one-time feed from Nick Poisson and Bochen hammered from the blue line past Logan Terness to give the Spruce Kings the lead. Poisson and Mason Waite had the two helpers on Bochen’s first of the series
SHOTS: 13-9 Trail
2nd Period:
NO SCORING
SHOTS: 11-10 Trail
3rd Period:
TRA: At 13:51 of the third frame, Matt Osadick got a shot away at the right circle and beat Jett Alexander on the glove side to tie the game at one. Powell Connor and Max Kryski had the two helpers on Osadick’s first of the series.
TRA: At 16:56 of the third, Phillippe Lapointe got the puck in tight and shovelled it by Alexander to give the Smoke Eaters a late lead in the third. Kent Johnson and Owen Ozar had the two assists on Lapointe’s first of the series.
SHOTS: 13-7 Trail
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Final Score: Prince George 1 Trail 2
Final Shots: Prince George 26 Trail 37
Jett Alexander: 35/37 Saves for Prince George (0-1)
Logan Terness: 25/26 Saves for Trail (1-0)
Prince George Power-Play: 1/2
Trail Power-Play: 0/6
3 Stars:
- Phillippe Lapointe (TRA 1 G)
- Logan Terneess (TRA 26 Saves)
- Jett Alexander (PG 35 Saves)
Fortis BC Energy Player of The Game:
Matt Osadick (TRA 1 G)
Next Spruce Kings Game: Saturday night at the Trail Memorial Centre for Game #2 of the best-of-seven.
NOTES:
- Trail leads the best-of-seven series 1-0
- Jett Alexander gets stars in three straight starts
- Tonight’s attendance was just shy of 2,000 fans at the Trail Memorial Centre