It was redemption night for the Prince George Spruce Kings taking a 10-4 victory over the Merritt Centennials, bettering their record to 22-16-3-1 and maintaining the fourth spot in the Interior Division standings.
The win follows a 3-2 overtime loss by the Spruce Kings on Friday.
John Herrington opened the scoring on the powerplay 4:21 into the first period giving the Spruce Kings a 1-0 lead. The Spruce Kings would score two more in the first period with Ty Gagno and Luca Primerano each finding the back of the net. Merritt narrowed the scoring gap with two goals at the end of the first period, bringing them back within one.
Johnny Hicks had a short night in goal for Merritt after suffering an undisclosed injury early in the first period. Conor Sullivan had another busy night stopping 40 of 49 shots. Sullivan was in the net for the Centennials Friday night, earning a 38-save win.
Spruce Kings were leading 3-2 going into the first intermission.
It didn't take long for the Spruce kings to double their lead with Linden Makow scoring 19 seconds into the second period. Jack Kurrle and Jake Schneider each notched a goal as well before Merritt's Michael Shara scored with 3:58 left in the middle frame to bring the score to 6-3.
The third period was a high-scoring affair. Makow scored his second of the game off an assist from Brayden Skogstad. Gagno also scored his second of the night during the final period. Jack Stockfish scored twice in the period to bring the Spruce Kings to double digits. Merritt's Christian Lowe scored a buzzer-beater with fractions of a second left on the clock to make the final score 10-4.
Gagno and Stockfish each finished the night having scored two goals and two assists, going on to be named the first and second stars of the game. Makow, with his two-goal performance, was named the game’s third star.
Saturday's win keeps the Spruce Kings ahead of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the standings.
The Spruce Kings and the Silverbacks face off next weekend in a double-header in Burns Lake as part of the BCHL 2023 Road Show.
