They needed some secondary scoring and last weekend the Prince George Spruce Kings received some from a few unlikely sources.
It was the defensive unit who stood up and contributed to the offence as the Spruce Kings returned from a three-game B.C. Hockey League road trip against their Mainland division opponents with three wins. The perfect weekend allowed the Spruce Kings (5-3-0-1) to vault into the division lead.
Leading the way among the defencemen was sophomore Karan Toor, who notched his first BCHL goal late in the third period Friday as the Spruce Kings overcame a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 over the Coquitlam Express. Toor's defensive partner Mitch Eden assisted on the game-winning goal.
In the rematch against the Express on Sunday, three of the Spruce Kings four goals in their 4-3 win were scored by blueliners - Skylar Pacheco, Toor and Christian Weidauer. Toor also picked up an assist on Bryant Christian's overtime winner and Eden had a helper on his partner's second goal of the weekend. Pacheco also scored in the Spruce Kings 2-1 win Saturday against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
The offence provided by the defence helped out as the Spruce Kings main line of Christian, Jake LeBrun and Brent Lashuk contributed six points to the three-game winning streak. For his efforts Toor was named BCHL player of the week. Honourable mentions went to LeBrun and Spruce Kings goalie Alex Murray. The 20-year-old goaltender recorded two of the three wins, stopping 66 of 70 shots for a .943 save percentage and a 1.92 goals against average.
The Spruce Kings have now scored 27 goals in nine games while giving up 23.
Tonight, 7 p.m., the Vernon Vipers (3-3-1-2) are the visitors to the Coliseum as the Spruce Kings try to extend their win streak and on Saturday the Victoria Grizzlies (3-4-1) pay their only visit to Prince George at 7 p.m.
LeBrun, with eight goals and three assists, and Christian, four goals, six assists, will battle with former Spruce King Gerry Fitzgerald, who leads the Grizzlies with five goals and six assists. Ryan Scarfo of Powell River leads the BCHL with 13 points (five goals). LeBrun is tied for the league lead in goals with the Vipers Mason Blacklock.
