Goalie Ryder Green was the Cinderella story for the Prince George Spruce Kings but the Penticton Vees were not going to let this one finish with a happy ending for the Kings and their fans who gathered for a playoff barnburner Tuesday night at Kopar Memorial Arena.
With eight minutes gone in double-overtime, an errant pass back to the offensive-zone blueline got away from Prince George defenceman Markus Yim and Vees forward Conyr Hellyer took off on a 2-on-1 break with linemate Max Heise.
Hellyer tried to chip the puck to Heise, skating hard to the net, and the pass caromed off Yim stick and deflected high into the net behind Green to cinch a 3-2 Penticton victory that gives the Vees a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven BCHL Interior Conference quarterfinal series.
“There was a lot of stuff going on and you’ve got to give P.G. a lot of credit, they’re banged up and just kept going, and I’ve got to give our guys credit too, we gave up that goofy goal from centre ice there and in the third period it would have been easy to wilt and let that be the winning goal,” said Vees head coach and general manager Fred Harbinson.
“Coming back was great and I’m real proud of our guys. The overtime just kept going and going and it was kind of a strange goal but we see those a lot of times in overtime if you go hard to the net – off the d-man and in the net.”
“The job’s not done but getting that third one puts them in a big hole.”
The Vees can wrap it up with another win Wednesday (7 p.m.) at Kopar.
But if the Kings play like they did Tuesday they just might find a way to send the series back to Penticton Friday.
An injury to Charlie Zolin in practice the day before put Green on the Spruce Kings’ bench as the rookie backup goaltender. But when starter Ryan Sanborn was forced to leave the game suddenly with leg cramps midway through the first overtime period, Green was called in to put out the flames in what had erupted into a five-alarm blaze.
The Vees were all over the Spruce Kings at that point, pouring on the heat on a power play with a great chance to end it.
The game had come to a brief standstill a minute earlier with the Vees just starting their power play when Sanborn stretched across the crease making a save and went down in pain. The 19-year-old, who showed signs earlier in overtime he was hurting, laid on the ice for several minutes while being attended to by athletic therapist Kara Fulawka. He had played so well and wanted to stay in the game but it was obvious he was labouring and coach Alex Evin made the switch.
“I was a little nervous (coming in), my whole family was here and they were probably a little nervous for me too, but I think I was pretty dialed so I was ready to go,” said Green.
“That one-timer was a little scary but I made the save and just got up and just faced another shot,” he said. “I gave it all I had, obviously an unlucky finish that we had but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
Green was forced to make two difficult saves before the penalty expired to keep the Kings in it. The Cariboo Cougars U-18s graduate with just one BCHL regular season game under his belt stood his ground as the Vees owned the puck and continued to outplay and outshoot the Kings the rest of the period. A redirected shot went off the post and was left unguarded in the crease until Yim managed to clear it away before the Vees got to it.
Green stopped 15 of 16 shots he faced, after Sanborn allowed just two goals on 35 shots. The Kings were outshot 51-32.
“I’m real happy for Ryder, that’s not a situation you want to do, is go in cold in overtime, but credit to him he was obviously ready and made three big saves right way, it was awesome to see,” said Evin.
“We probably defended too much bit we gave it a great game. I think there was a couple bounces earlier in the game we could have scored on and they capitalized on our kind of botched play in the third (period) and made it to overtime. But that’s the margin for error and the guys coming back next year will have to learn, especially from a game like that, it can teach you a lot of good lessons.
“We’ve showed we can play with these guys, we’ve had two realty good games, Game 1 and Game 3, so hopefully we can get it done (Wednesday).”
Early in the third period, Prince George native Scott Cousins gave the Spruce Kings their first lead of the series, scoring on a dump-in from centre ice. The 19-year-old winger let go low shot that rimmed the dasher boards and slid out to goalie Will Ingemann, who tried to smother the puck on the ice next to the post with his trapper but missed and it trickled in.
The Vees answered a five minutes later on a fast entry into the Kings’ zone. Anselmo Rego took a drop-pass from linemate James Fisher and lofted a blocker-side shot that slipped behind Sanborn, making his first BCHL playoff start. Rego’s second of the playoffs came 6:45 into the third.
Penticton opened the scoring 3:54 into the game during a delayed penalty. Point man Brock Reinhart put a shot on goal that hit the pads of Sanborn and produced a rebound that kicked out to Simon Meier, who banked a shot from the side of the cage in off Sanborn’s leg.
The Kings were the better team in the opening period and had a wide edge in quality scoring chances but could not beat Ingemann. The 18-year-old from Plymouth, Mich., who had a 20 -save shutout in Game 1 denied point-blank chances from Alexis Cournoyer and Cousins.
The Kings continued their physical play and tight coverage that made offensive zone entries difficult for the high-flying Vees. The guys in home white kept their feet moving and managed to draw a Penticton penalty that led to the equalizer early in the second period.
The league’s fifth-best power play during the season made the most of its first opportunity of the night and Linden Makow led the fly-by celebration. The 20-year-old from Vanderhoof fired a slapper from just inside the blueline that found the far side of the net to break the Vees’ two-game shutout string.
Cousins isn’t ready to pack his equipment away for the summer and he says the Kings will do whatever it takes to win on Wednesday and if Green gets into that game he’s expecting more of the same.
“He’s going to do great things, he’s a really talented goaltender and we’ve got faith in him and he’s only been here a week,” said Cousins. “I know him a bit from the Cariboo organization and growing up, having the same kind of roots I have, it’s good to see having success with us up here.”
LOOSE PUCKS: Tuesday’s attendance was 776… Zolin, who played well on the road, stopping 66 of 72 shots in the first two games of the series, suffered a lower-body injury Monday in practice and was scratched out of the lineup… The Vees lost the services of defenceman Daniel Buchbinder in the first period when he suffered an upper-body injury and did not return.
BCHL playoffs
Interior Conference quarterfinal
Prince George Spruce Kings vs. Penticton Vees
(Vees lead best-of-seven series 3-0)
Game 3
Tuesday summary
Vees 3 at Spruce Kings 2 (2OT)
First Period
1. Penticton, Meier 2 (Reinhart, Pichette) 3:54
Penalty – Bellamy PG (hooking) 5:04.
Second Period
2. Prince George, Makow 1 (Bhabra, Goodbrand) 3:42 (pp)
Penalties – Lippai Pen ((holding) 3:20, Renfrew Pen (hooking) 14:31.
Third Period
3. Prince George, Cousins 1 (Yim, Bhabra) 1:24
4. Penticton, Rego 2 (Fisher, Renfrew) 6:45
Penalties – None.
First Overtime
No scoring
Penalties – Veilleux PG (hooking) 8:27, R.MacPerson Pen (hooking) 15:11.
Second Overtime
5. Penticton, Hellyer 1, 8:19
Penalties – None.
Shots on goal by
Penticton 9 10 11 15 6 -51
Prince George 11 8 4 7 2 -32
Goal – Penticton, Ingemann (W,2-0); Prince George, Sanborn (33-35) and at 9:48 of first overtime, Green (L,0-1, 15-16).
Power plays – Pen: 0-2; PG : 1-3.
Attendance – 776.
