The Spruce Kings playoff hopes remain alive, even with little cooperation from the out-of-town scoreboard these days.
For the second night in a row, Kazumo Sasaki played the role of hero courtesy of a two-goal performance, leading the Spruce Kings to another 3-2 victory over the Coquitlam Express in front of 1,009 fans at the Kopar Memorial Arena.
At 4:06 of the third period, a Ludvig Basth shot from the blueline was stopped and immediately kicked out by Express netminder Logan Kennedy.
Nick Metelkin had the presence of mind to jump on the loose change, drawing three Coquitlam players to him, which saw Sasaki sneak behind the coverage and slip the puck inside the pad and into the yawning cage.
With the goalie pulled in favour of the extra-attacker, the Express got within one during the final minute as Mason Kesselring let a shot go from just above the Prince George slot, going under the arm of Spruce Kings goalie Charles-Edward Gravel.
Joseph Odyniec opened the scoring for the visitors at the 4:33 mark of the first period. The 20-year-old from Washington D.C. got lost behind the defensive coverage and ripped a shot into an open net. Gravel made the initial save on James Shannon, but the puck took a fortunate bounce for the Express.
PG’s best stretch of hockey was in the second. A Cale Colwell double-minor for high-sticking penalty allowed Metelkin to zip a hard blast past the blocker of Kennedy to even the score at 1-1.
Spruce Kings defenceman Trent LeDrew did all the Yeomans work, sidestepping a Coquitlam penalty killer along the far boards that set the table for a cross-ice pass.
Then off a broken play at centre ice, LeDrew collected a loose puck, leading a 2-on-1 with Sasaki, hitting him in stride with a saucer pass and cashing in on Kennedy.
Coquitlam outshot Prince George 34-31. The Express went 0-for-3 on the power-play while the Spruce Kings finished 1-for-4. Gravel stopped 32 visiting shots to start his BCHL journey with a mark of 2-0.
PG overage forward Brock Cummings missed the contest due to concussion-like symptoms following a hit-from-behind he sustained in Friday’s 3-2 overtime victory that only drew a minor penalty from the officials.
The Mercyhurst commit came to the northern capital via the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League. In turn, the Sea Dogs signed former Express netminder Eric Young to replace Gravel.
In 25 games with Coquitlam, Young posted a 13-8-4 record with 3.32 goals against average and an .890 save percentage.
Once again, the Spruce Kings didn’t get much help from the hockey gods on Saturday. The Nanaimo Clippers defeated the Langley Rivermen 6-5 in overtime.
PG (15-20-3-1) is now seven points back of the Rivermen (17-17-6-1) for the last playoff spot in the Coastal Conference while also eight behind the Clippers (20-18-2-0) for 7th.
The Spruce Kings make their final Island road trip of the season when they play Cowichan Valley on Friday and Nanaimo the following evening (Saturday).
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
