Playoff hockey is not for the faint for heart, especially if you are the underdog.
For the Prince George Spruce Kings, the task was simple, push back at home and put that momentum in your back pocket.
Mission accomplished.
A trio of third period goals from Brock Cummings, Nicholas Papineau and Will Moore was more than enough offense in a 3-1 victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs in front of 929 fans at the Kopar Memorial Arena.
The Spruce Kings came out like gangbusters in the first period pressuring Chilliwack all over the ice but were unable stop Montreal Canadiens prospect goaltender Quentin Miller who turned aside all 16 shots that came his direction.
Action tightened up in the second where scoring chances were a lot more limited, mainly due to some great shot blocking by the Chiefs defensemen.
Despite the lopsided shot margin, Chilliwack who would strike first as a point shot by Lucas Sorace found the stick of Caleb Malhotra who deflected the puck past Spruce Kings netminder Charles-Edward Gravel for a 1-0 edge after 40 minutes.
Tempers started to flare in the third as Kazumo Sasaki (PG) and Malhotra (Chiefs) each got coincidental minors for roughing and high-sticking.
Sasaki plastered Chilliwack forward Dru Mushumanski into the corner with a cross-check – Malhotra took exception and levelled the 19-year-old with a pair of cross-checks of his own that could have been called more severely.
The 4-on-4 sequence worked to the Spruce Kings benefit as a long stretch pass by Brendan Gilmore found the tape of Cummings who slipped behind the Chiefs defense, outwaiting Miller on the backhand.
“I was trying to hold on to the puck and it was man on man, and they changed and when Brock is open you try and get him the puck and he made a great play. He is a skilled guy and I was happy to see him make that play,” said Gilmore post-game to MyPGNow.com.
“We have a really good understanding on what they (Chilliwack) are going to do and we believe as a team we can play with these guys, and it has gotten better every night I think.”
Forty-five seconds later, Prince George once again turned defense into offense as a clearing attempt by Mason Loewen drew three Chiefs players to him leading to a 2-on-1 rush by Papineau who fired a slap shot past the blocker side of Miller for a 2-1 lead.
“I looked over and saw Wachtel (Ryan) I saw the defenseman was covering him, so I let it rip, and good things happen when you shoot the puck,” said Papineau.
“I think home advantage here is big. We are very confident in our own barn, and I think it showed tonight. I think we are going to be more confident, but the big factor right now is the travel and home team advantage.”
Echoing Papineau’s statement, the home team has won every game in this series.
More rough stuff occurred with just over two minutes remaining as ten players converged in front of the Chilliwack bench. After all the grappling and face washes, only Trent LeDrew (Spruce Kings) and Dustin Renas (Chiefs) received minor penalties.
Chiefs’ defender Ty Campbell was awarded a 10-minute misconduct after shooting the helmet of Moore down the ice.
Moore capped off the game with an empty netter with 1:20 left in regulation.
Prince George outshot Chilliwack 31-19.
The Spruce Kings were 0-for-4 on the power-play while the Chiefs went 0-for-2.
Chilliwack leads the best-of-seven 2-1 with Game Four set for tonight (Wednesday) at 7:00 from the Kopar Memorial Arena.
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