The Prince George Spruce Kings couldn’t hold the lead late as the Langley Rivermen took a 5-4 victory on Friday night at Kopar Memorial Arena.
The Spruce Kings started the game on the power play as the Rivermen’s Dalton MacGillivray received a warmup violation, but they couldn’t get a shot on goal.
There would be no scoring in the opening frame despite four power plays, but the Spruce Kings opened the scoring during four on four early in the second.
Kazumo Sasaki’s pass was tipped by Trent Ballentyne right onto the stick of Brock Cummings, and he ripped one under the bar past Charlie Tritt to open the scoring.
Ethan Merner got a deflection of his own from a Spruce Kings defender at 8:23, beating Ryder Green who made his first start since November 29th in Coquitlam.
Late in the middle frame, Brody Martin picked up his first BCHL assist as he got the puck to Brogan McNeil who sent it in front of the goal. Will Moore had two chances and slid it under Tritt to give the Spruce Kings the lead.
Just 31 seconds later though, Ryan Schelling got an early Christmas present as his shot deflected off the inside of Green’s pad as he went to steer it to the corner and it ended up in the back of the net.
The Rivermen took the lead at 1:51 as Liam Doyle entered the zone and beat Green from distance off a pass from Schelling and MacGillivray.
Will Moore’s second of the night came off an Aidan Souligny turnover, as he snapped one over the shoulder of Tritt to tie the game again.
Just 1:42 later, Moore completed the hat-trick, sliding one through Tritt from down low as Nicolas Papineau and McNeil drew the helpers.
A late penalty lead to the equalizer once again for Langley, as Ilya Rogovsky beat Green from the right circle from Jackson Potulny and Schelling with 4:03 to go.
The game wasn’t destined for overtime, as Ty Creech got his first of the season with 2:40 on the clock from Jackson Krill and MacGillivray, which ended up being the game winner.
The game ended with some feisty action near the buzzer, leading to the two teams fifth meeting tomorrow night, which could only be dubbed as the hottest ticket in town.
Shots on Goal:
Prince George: 28
Langley: 32
3 Stars:
1st Star – Ryan Schelling (LAN) 1 goal, 2 assists
2nd Star – Will Moore (PG) 3 goals
3rd Star – Ty Creech (LAN) 1 goal, 1 assist
Next up: DROP THE GLOVES AND SOCK IT TO EM on Saturday night as the Spruce Kings ask for fans to bring toques, gloves, socks, mittens, or scarves (all in plastic bags) in Support of St. Vincent de Paul to throw on the ice when the Spruce Kings score their first goal. There will also be a space to donate food at the front door.
TICKETS: https://bit.ly/DropTheGloves12-14
