The Prince George Spruce Kings punched their ticket to the second round of the Rogers BCHL Playoffs with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night over the Langley Rivermen.
After a scoreless first period, Mason Loewen would get a picture perfect deflection past Eric Young off a shot from Evan Bellamy, to give the Spruce Kings a lead into the third period.
The Rivermen would respond with a weird one at 5:47 from the goal line, beating Colin Reay to even the score.
Prince George, bounced back right away. After a Trent LeDrew rush, his shot was stopped, and as Ben Vreugdenhil tried to tuck the rebound home it went right to Ryan Wachtel whose backhand beat Young to give the Spruce Kings the lead.
Then, just 1:16 later, the Spruce Kings would get an insurance marker as River Arnason tucked home his third of the series from the top of the crease after a pass from Loewen. Carter Hesselgrave picked up the second assist.
In the final minute, LeDrew got a late shot block and Marcus Lougheed found the net from 187 feet away to seal the victory.
Reay made 24 saves on the night, winning all four games the Spruce Kings needed to advance to Round 2 against the Chilliwack Chiefs. Game 1 and 2 go Friday and Saturday at Kopar Memorial Arena, with tickets going on sale Wednesday at 12:00 pm at the Spruce Kings office and online at www.sprucekings.bc.ca/playoffs
