Patrick Cozzi scored at 10:40 of the first overtime period to give the Prince George Spruce Kings a 2-1 playoff victory against the Chilliwack Chiefs on Monday night at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack. With the win, the Kings took a two-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven B.C. Hockey League Mainland Division semifinal.
After a few glorious chances for the Chiefs to end the game, the Kings battled back and, on a rush, Cozzi attempted to make a pass near the top of the Chilliwack crease but the puck bounced off a skate and went through the legs of goaltender Daniel Chenard.
In the third period, neither team was able to break a 1-1 deadlock. The best opportunity for the Chiefs came on an early power play when Harrison Blaisdell rang a shot off the crossbar behind Kings' goaltender Evan DeBrouwer.
Later, Prince George forwards Ethan de Jong and Ben Brar broke in on the Chilliwack net and a tip attempt by Brar went just wide of the post. The Chiefs quickly turned the puck the other direction and forced DeBrouwer to make a big stop with about 6:30 gone.
Other chances as the period wound down included a couple of breaks by Cozzi and Blake Hayward of the Kings and a ripper of a shot by Chilliwack's Will Calverley that DeBrouwer snagged with his glove.
At the end of regulation, shots favoured Chilliwack 29-24. The Kings went 0-for-4 on the power play and the Chiefs went scoreless on one opportunity.
The teams played a scoreless first period and were tied 1-1 after the second.
The Spruce Kings came out in the second period with a bit of jump and had a great chance to open the scoring a few minutes into the frame but failed to convert. On the play, defenceman Layton Ahac fired a puck into the Chilliwack zone, off the glass to one side of the net. Goaltender Chenard left his cage to play the puck but it took a weird hop and landed back in front. Waiting there was de Jong but he had what appeared to be a sure goal taken away by the Chiefs' goalie, who dove back in time to foil his shot.
Moments later, Chilliwack got on the scoreboard on a deflection by Calverley, who was left alone in front of the Prince George net and was able to get his stick on a feed off the boards from Blaisdell.
The Spruce Kings tied the game 1-1 on a long-distance snap-shot by defenceman Chays Ruddy. The puck found its way through a forest of bodies and into the net behind Chenard.
In the middle 20 minutes, Chilliwack outshot Prince George 15-12.
In a scoreless and somewhat tentative first period, the Kings outshot the Chiefs 10-6. Prince George applied some pressure in the late-going but couldn't beat Chenard in the Chilliwack net.
The Chiefs won the series opener, played in Prince George on Friday night, 3-0. The Kings bounced back with a 2-0 victory on Saturday.
Game 4 goes Tuesday night in Chilliwack, while Game 5 is set for Thursday back in P.G. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
