The Prince George Spruce Kings found the win column for the first time during the 2022-23 BCHL exhibition schedule with a 3-2 win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks Thursday night inside the Prince George Coliseum.
Kilian McGregor-Bennett pieced together a multi-point night, having a part in each of the Spruce Kings’ goals as Prince George handed the Silverbacks their first loss of the pre-season.
The opening period was scoreless for 20 minutes with both teams sharing their fair share of opportunities.
In the second, McGregor-Bennett got the scoring underway on the powerplay. John Herrington found his linemate in the opposite circle and sent a cross-ice pass before McGregor-Bennett put the puck in past Silverbacks’ goalie Carter Richardson. The goal came four minutes into the middle frame.
At 10:19, Connor Welsh knotted the score up for Salmon Arm. CJ Foley and Owen Desilets earned the assists on the score.
With Prince George back on the powerplay. With Richardson lying on his stomach, the puck trickled out to Jake Schneider in the slot, putting the puck into the top corner of the net and reclaiming the lead. Austin Fraser and McGregor-Bennett had the assists.
In the third period, Maddux Martin tied the score back up. The tying goal came at 7:53 into the final period. CJ Foley tallied his second assist of the night.
Past the midway mark of the period, Austin Fraser mustered up the go-ahead goal to put the Spruce Kings up 3-2. The eventual game-winning goal came at 12:39 with Herrington and McGregor-Bennett getting the assists.
Aidan Feddema had a strong performance between the pipes for Prince George, turning away 25 of the 27 shots the Silverbacks fired at him in the winning performance.
Prince George will wrap up their exhibition schedule on Saturday when they venture down to Salmon Arm to have a rematch against the Silverbacks. The game is scheduled for 6:00 PM.
The BCHL Regular Season will get underway the following weekend when the Spruce Kings head to the Lower Mainland. Their season opener will be against the Coquitlam Express on Friday, September 23 at 7:00 PM. They’ll face the Langley Rivermen the following night at 7:15 PM.
Prince George will have their home opener on September 30th when they play host to the Vernon Vipers. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 PM.