The Prince George Spruce Kings took one step forward and one step back on the weekend.
After beating the Chilliwack Chiefs 5-2 in one of their best games of the season Friday, Prince George suffered a 6-3 loss to the same team Saturday at the Coliseum.
The Chiefs scored three goals in the second period en route to the win to stay atop the B.C. Hockey League's Mainland Division at 19-9-0-1 and 39 points.
The Kings, with a depleted lineup, came within a point of the Chiefs after Friday's victory. They now fall three points back after Saturday's loss and remain in second place in the Division at 17-12-0-2.
"The guys battled hard," said Kings assistant coach Jason Garneau. "We had three of our top-six forwards missing and we were short on the back-end. If we scored on a couple of our opportunities in the first period [on Saturday] it could have changed the complex of the game. Our feet got heavy in the second period and Chilliwack capitalized on its chances. [Starting netminder Jesse] Jenks gave us a chance to win both games."
After Chiefs' forward Rory Bell scored on a power play with three seconds remaining in the first period, the Kings answered five minutes into the second period.
Forward Brogan O'Brien took the puck on a partial break-away down centre ice and deked Chiefs netminder David Poirier to tie the game.
Chilliwack then broke it open in a three-minute span with a pair of tallies from Jordan Kawaguchi and a single from Luke McColgan.
In the third, Kings forward Jake LeBrun narrowed the lead to 4-2 when he scored on a goal-mouth scramble with the man-advantage.
With his teammate Evan MacEachern serving a minor penalty for tripping, Bell capitalized to extend the lead to 5-2 with eight seconds left on the short-handed opportunity.
Braiden Epp again narrowed Chilliwack's lead to 5-3 with his ninth goal of the season with two-and-a-half minutes left, but Dennis Cholowski added an empty-netter 45 seconds later for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs outshot the Kings 37-25.
"Obviously the Chiefs are our biggest rival and we wanted to come away with a win tonight and four points," said Garneau. "We talked it over and we're not happy."
The Kings are without the services of six of their regular veterans: forwards Justin Rai, Chad Staley, Jarryd Leung and Riley Hawes are all out with upper body injuries, as is defenceman Alex Stoley. Defenceman Karan Toor remains out of the lineup with a groin injury.
To fill the holes, Affiliate players Brett Harris, Kyle Lohmann and Cole Zimmerman were called up from the Junior B 100 Mile House Wranglers.
It's also forced general manager Mike Hawes to wheel and deal with several trades throughout the season to bolster the roster.
Forward Daniel Nachbaur was acquired from the Merritt Centennials on Nov. 29.
Defencemen Victor Dombrovskiy, 18, and Tyler Kunz, 20, acquired in separate deals on Dec. 1 from the Trail Smoke Eaters and Lloydminster Bobcats respectively, were partners on the blueline.
"They played really good on defence and they settled the game down and moved the puck well," said Garneau. "It's awful having all those injuries but it gives the other guys a chance to step up, like [Alex] Stoglin, Epp and [Cole] Todd. They've elevated their game. "We're hoping to be healthy for the second half of the season."
Prince George hosts the Centennials Friday and the Cowichan Valley Capitals Saturday at the Coliseum. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
Loose pucks: Dombrovskiy, Jenks and O'Brien left Sunday for Calgary for the World Junior A Team Canada West's selection camp in Calgary that goes until Tuesday.
They're among 60 players from the BCHL, and Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba junior A hockey leagues who will try to make the cut for the World Junior A Challenge tournament that will run from Dec. 14 to 20 in Kindersley, Sask.
At the 2013 tournament in Yarmouth, N.S., Jenks backstopped Canada West to a 5-3 victory over Switzerland to win the bronze medal.
The U.S. won the tournament with a 4-1 victory against Russia.
In its ninth year of existence, the 2014 WJAC is a six-team event.
Canada East will be joined by Switzerland and the United States in Group A, while Russia and Denmark will join Canada West in Group B.
