A lack of hunger from the start Saturday cost the Prince George Spruce Kings a victory.
Dave Dupas, head coach of the Kings, said his team's invisibility for the first 35 minutes helped the Merritt Centennials earn a 4-3 win and a split of the two-game British Columbia Hockey League series.
"We're not very happy with losing any games," said Dupas after the announced crowd of 729 fans at The Coliseum went home disappointed. "I thought that we weren't very good in the first couple of periods. We gave the game away.
"I believe we're a better team than Merritt," he added. "It's a young team and they'll have to learn from these hard losses."
Despite playing most of the first period in their own end the Kings led 2-1 after 20 minutes, on the second goals of the season from Jujhar Khaira and Leo Fitzgerald. Peyton Schaefer replied for the Centennials, tying the game at 1-1 before Fitzgerald scored the go-ahead marker in the final minute of the period.
Merritt took a 3-2 lead in the second period on goals from defenceman Brandon Pfeil - a point shot through traffic with a two-man advantage - and Stephen Wall, who poked a rebound past Kings' goalie Kirk Thompson.
Dupas said the outcome of Friday's game - a 6-3 win for the Kings - likely factored heavily into the way the teams started the back half of the two-game series.
"It was a big emotional game [Friday] night for us," said Dupas. "We worked a month to get to that game. I think there was a letdown emotionally coming into this one and, on the other side, Merritt lost that first one so they were really determined not to come up here and get swept.
"I thought we outplayed them badly in the third period and, maybe, deserved to get into overtime."
Merritt outshot the Kings 21-10 through 35 minutes of play, but a Kings' two-man advantage for a full two minutes late in the middle frame saw momentum swing in favour of Prince George. The Kings didn't score, but fired seven shots at Centennials goaltender Tyler Steel in the final three minutes of the period.
In the third period, the Kings outshot the Centennials 21-7 (38-30 on the night), dominating play, but could only beat Steel once - when Leo Fitzgerald cut down the right side - after his brother Myles forced a turnover in the neutral zone - scoring his second goal of the night and third of the season to tie the game at 3-3.
But, less than two minutes later Regan Soquila restored the Centennials lead for good.
A constant stream of players to the penalty box in the first 40 minutes played into the Centennials' hands.
"There was no flow to the game," said Dupas about his team spending 14 minutes on the penalty kill. "That's how [Merritt] likes to play and we were unable to roll four lines and use our speed."
The Spruce Kings play three of their next four games against the Penticton Vees, starting with a road game Friday and then back-to-back games in the castle Oct. 7 and 8. Next weekend's two-game road trip also includes a stop in Vernon on Saturday to play the three-time defending BCHL champion Vipers.
