Ben Brar did it again.
He gave the Prince George Spruce Kings exactly what they needed to shake off the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Brar scored his 18th goal of the season on a Prince George power play with less than four minutes remaining to snap a 1-1 deadlock and lift the Spruce Kings to a 2-1 victory.
For Brar, it was his third goal and fourth point of the weekend. He scored twice and drew an assist in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Power River Kings in Powell River, the Spruce Kings’ first stop in their three-game B.C. Hockey League Island Division tour.
Nicholas Poisson opened the scoring with an unassisted goal just 75 seconds into the game at Weyerhaeuser Arena in Port Alberni. Darren Rizzolo countered for the Bulldogs in the second period while on the power play.
Logan Neaton made 25 saves to improve his record to 14-3-0-0. John Hawthorne faced 34 shots in the Alberni Valley nets and was picked as the game’s first star.
Neaton leads all BCHL goalies with a 1.98 goals-against average and the team has a 2.12 average. The Spruce Kings are the stingiest, least-penalized team n the BCHL. They’ve allowed 53 goals in 25 games and have been assessed just 220 minutes in penalties.
Saturday’s win allowed the Spruce Kings to keep pace with the league-leading Chilliwack Chiefs – 7-5 winners Saturday in Powell River. The Spruce Kings (17-7-0-1) are three points behind the Chiefs (19-7-0-0), who have played one more game than Prince George
The Spruce Kings wind up their three-game trip Sunday afternoon in Nanaimo (2 p.m.) against the Clippers.
