Maybe Kazumo Sasaki has a future in professional pickpocketing.
The 19-year-old Japanese import swooped up beside Mason Kesselring, pounced on a bobbled puck inside the opposing blueline and outwaited overage goaltender Andrew Ness, capping off a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory against the Coquitlam Express in front of 918 fans at the Kopar Memorial Arena.
Friday’s come-from-behind theatrics by the Prince George Spruce Kings keep their playoff hopes alive, staying within eight points of both the Langley Rivermen and Nanaimo Clippers in the BCHL’s Coastal Conference.
Like a lot of times this season, the start wasn’t exactly flattering for a team that has their backs up against the wall.
Carson McGinley opened the scoring for the Express at 3:56 of the first period after a jailbreak inside the Spruce Kings led to a point-blank 3-on-oh inside the defensive zone.
Newly acquired goalie Charlie Gravel was able to make the initial two stops for PG but was unable to come up with the three-peat.
Coquitlam found themselves up 2-0 roughly eight minutes later as a shot by Andrej Kovacevic ended up onto the stick of Ryan Staples.
In the second, the Spruce Kings came out like gangbusters and dominated the territorial play for the first eleven minutes but were unable to solve Ness. This included a lengthy 5-on-3 that was turned aside by the Express.
Not to be outdone, Gravel made four good stops in the middle frame to keep it close, including a wind-mill glove save at the tail end of an Express man-advantage.
Nicholas Papineau finally cracked the code against Ness at 2:23 of the third period, backhanding a rebound past the Coquitlam goalie to trim the deficit to 2-1. Import blueliner Maks Percic led an odd-man rush, which allowed Papineau to drive the net.
Trent LeDrew seeing eye point shot, alluded Ness and Coquitlam as the puck changed direction, fooling an unsuspecting netminder.
Prince George (14-20-3-1) outshot the Express (21-12-3-2) 40-23. In his Spruce Kings debut, Gravel made 21 saves to preserve the victory.
Ness stopped 37 Spruce King pucks in defeat.
Both teams were a combined 0-for-7 on the power-play.
The Spruce Kings didn’t get any help on the out-of-town scoreboard as Langley dumped Cowichan Valley 7-3 while Nanaimo blanked Victoria 5-0.
Langley and Nanaimo face each other tonight (Saturday) at the Frank Crane Arena.
PG and Coquitlam finish off their double-header this evening at 6 from the Kopar Memorial Arena.
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