Jeremiah Luedtke received his birthday present a month late from Cowichan Valley Capitals goaltender Robin Gusse, but the Prince George Spruce Kings forward was happy with the generous gift.
The Capitals and Spruce Kings were tied at 2-2 with 44 seconds left in regulation time of the B.C. Hockey League game Saturday night in front of 1,157 fans at the Coliseum when Gusse left his net to play the puck in the corner on a routine dump in. Gusse wound up passing the puck right onto Luedke's stick in front of the wide-open net for the easy goal, giving the Spruce Kings a 3-2 win. The win is the Spruce Kings third consecutive victory and runs their undefeated streak to four.
Luedke turned 19 on Sept. 24 and after a slow start to his second season with the Spruce Kings he has racked up several points in the team's last two weekend's of work, giving him four goals and 11 points.
Gusse may want to forget his gift, but prior to the brain cramp the 20-year-old had played a good game as the Spruce Kings out shot the Capitals 39-26. Alex Murray picked up his sixth win of the season for the Kings.
The allowed the Spruce Kings (10-7-1-1) to keep pace with the Mainland division leading Langley Rivermen (11-5-1-1) and moved them four points up on the third-place Coquitlam Express (8-8-0-2). Both the Rivermen and Express have a game in hand on Prince George.
Sean Landrey opened the scoring for the Spruce Kings when he buried a pass from Riley Hawes behind Gusse with about six minutes to go in the first period for a 1-0 lead. The second period was scoreless until the final minute when Cowichan Valley capitalized on a power-play opportunity. Jarrett Brown was credited with the goal that beat Murray and the game was tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes.
Brogan O'Brien restored the Spruce Kings' lead early in the final period, but 19 seconds later Jesse Neher tied it up again, setting the stage for Gusse's gift.
It was the second meeting of the season between the Spruce Kings and Capitals. In the first game between the clubs, at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack, the Kings blew a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3.
The Spruce Kings head off on a five-game road swing starting Friday in Surrey when they face their division foe, the Eagles for the third time this season. Two weeks ago the Kings had a loss and a tie during their first trip to Surrey. The next Spruce Kings home action is a three-game weekend, Nov. 18-20, when the Eagles visit for two games followed by a Sunday matinee visit from the Rivermen.
