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Wild shuts out Spruce Kings

The secret is out on the Wenatchee Wild. This hockey team is no expansion pushover. Unlike their first visit to Prince George for their B.C.
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Adam Brubacher fires a shot from the point as the Prince George Spruce Kings took on the Wenatchee Wild on Thursday at the Coliseum.

The secret is out on the Wenatchee Wild.

This hockey team is no expansion pushover.

Unlike their first visit to Prince George for their B.C. Hockey League debut in September, when they were an unknown entity and pasted the Kings 5-1 and 8-0 in a two-game set at the Coliseum, the Wild no longer have the element of surprise working in their favour.

But as everybody in the BCHL is well aware, the Wild is a deadly opponent.

The Kings needed no reminder, dropping a 3-0 decision to the Mainland Division-leading Wild in front of 584 spectators at the Coliseum.

Dakota Raabe, Kyle Stephan and Troy Conzo, with an empty-netter, scored for the Wild.

In what turned out to be an entertaining

60 minutes of lightning-paced junior A hockey, the hometown Kings came out the aggressors and caught the Wild flatfooted while holding a territorial edge in the first period.

That led to a handful of quality chances (a Jarod Hovde shot hit the goalpost) - none of which resulted in goals.

The only red-lighter of the period came at the other end of the ice. The Kings turned the puck over at the sideboards and Raabe got free in front of the net with the puck. Sam Tanguay stopped the first shot but kicked out a rebound right onto Raabe's stick and the native of Dana Point, Calif., buried it.

After a quick-paced scoreless second period the Wild took a 2-0 lead right after a Spruce Kings penalty had expired with the teams playing 4-on-4. Stephan took advantage of the traffic in front of Tanguay and wired a 20-foot wristshot into the net low to the far side. That came 13:07 into the third period.

After outshooting the Wild 11-9 in the first period, the Kings generated just six shots in the final 40 minutes. Not nearly enough.

"We started out well and generated some offence in the first period and we were able to shut them down and things kind of turned in the second and third," said Kings general manager Mike Hawes.

"Our effort was still there but we weren't able to generate many chances. Wenatchee is a well-coached team that executes its systems well and you really saw that in the second and third periods."

The Corey Hoffman line, with wingers Kyle Johnson and Braiden Epp created the best chances for Prince George, but Wenatchee goalie Chase Perry was equal to the task.

The six-foot-three, 187-pounder from Andover, Minn., had just 17 shots to stop for his second BCHL shutout and showed few weaknesses, if any. Perry was drafted in the fifth round on the 2015 NHL draft by the Detroit Red Wings.

Tanguay was solid throughout in making 23 saves in one of his best outings since joining the Spruce Kings in mid-September. The 20-year-old from Beauport, Que., kept it a one-goal deficit with his best save of the game nine minutes into the third period, a butterfly leg-spreader to rob Brendan Harris.

But like the rest of his teammates, Tanguay couldn't score. A lack of finish around the net has been the downfall of the Spruce Kings way too many times this season and their 4-12-0-1 record reflects that. The win boosted Wenatchee's record to 11-4-2-1.

The same teams meet again tonight (7 p.m. start).

LOOSE PUCKS - The Kings called up 16-year-old defenceman Austin Crossley and 18-year-old forward Dante Raposo from the Kamloops Storm, their junior B affiliate. Crossley, a six-foot-one, 200-pound native of Fort St. John, is the stepson of former Kings captain Tyler Loney. Loney, 31, played three seasons for the Spruce Kings and will be best remembered for the 2004-05 season in which he totalled 33 goals 70 points and 242 penalty minutes and was named the league's most valuable player. Loney was at the game Thursday... The Kings were without injured defencemen Ryan Fritz (knee surgery, day-to-day) and Cooper Prechel (concussion, day-to-day) as well as forward Cavin Tilsley (concussion, day-to-day)... NCAA Division 1 scouts from Bemidji State (Minnesota) and Bentley University (Massachusetts) were in attendance.

BOX SCORE:

Wild 3 at Spruce Kings 0

First Period

1. Wenatchee, Raabe 7 (Baker) 12:26

Penalties - None.

Second Period

No scoring.

Penalties - Penner PG (elbowing) 1:22, Christensen Wen (tripping) 2:30, Stief PG (cross-checking) 3:10, Yoon Wen (interference) 16:50, Raposo PG (boarding) 19:30.

Third Period

2. Wenatchee, Stephan 7 (Coyne, Yoon) 13:07

3. Wenatchee, Conzo 6, 18:34 (en)

Penalties - Epp PG (boarding) 7;53, Harris Wen (double-spearing) 10:06, Colley PG (tripping) 11:05, Stoley PG (holding) 12:33.

Shots on goal by

Wenatchee 9 8 8 --25

Prince George 12 4 2 --17

Goal - Wenatchee, Perry (8-4-2); Prince George, Tanguay (1-7-0).

Power plays (chances-goals) - Wen: 0-7: PG: 0-4.

Referees -Bryan Dawson, Nick Panter; Linesmen - Nick Albinati, Brett Burton.

Attendance - 584.