The Prince George Spruce Kings did everything in their power to pull closer to a playoff position.
But wins proved elusive in their last home weekend of the season and they didn't get much help on the out-of-town scoreboard.
The resilient Kings fought back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits in the second period Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum but couldn't hold off the Penticton Vees, who prevailed 4-3 in overtime.
Mark MacMillan broke in on a 2-0 break after Troy Stecher stripped Trent Murdoch of the puck at the Vees blueline and the Montreal Canadiens' draft pick made no mistake finding the net for the game-winner, 1:58 into overtime.
Joey Benik, James Polk and Myles McCauley also scored on Kings goalie Kirk Thompson, who made 37 saves as the Kings were outshot 41-28. Ben Woodley, Todd Skirving and Kyle Manlow were the Kings' marksmen, all in the second period.
The Kings were 5-4 OT losers to the visiting Westside Warriors Saturday night. Grayson Downing fired the winner with 2:41 gone in the second (3-on-3) overtime session.
The Kings trailed 4-1 after two periods but pounded three pucks past Warriors' goalie Kevin Boyle in the third period to force overtime. Manlow, Murdoch and affiliated player Tyson Witala, on a setup from his Cariboo Cougars major midget teammate Seb Lloyd, all connected in the third period.
"I'm proud of the guys, they work and they work and they don't quit," said Spruce Kings head coach Dave Dupas. "As far as the results go, we're a little disappointed. We wanted to be in a situation where we could go into Merritt next weekend where we could control our own destiny."
Tyler French led the Warriors with a pair of goals. Kyle Singleton and Travis Blanleil added singles in the first period.
On Friday, the Kings lost 4-1 to Penticton.
"There was a little bit of bad blood with those guys after Friday night and I think they thought they would come in here (Sunday) and run us out of our own building, but it's just not happening any more," said Dupas. "They took it to us in the first period and had us back on our heels and it didn't look great for us. But the guys hare are resilient and they settled down and battled back, like they've been doing."
The two overtime points gained by Prince George were negated Sunday in Quesnel, where the Millionaires defeated the Warriors 4-3 in overtime. Chris Blessing scored 1:19 into OT and Bryton Udy made 39 saves to lift the Mills, who lost 8-4 to Penticton Saturday and 8-2 to Westside Friday night.
With the win, Quesnel is now five points ahead of the Kings for the seventh and final Interior Conference playoff spot. Each team has three games left in the season. The Kings play in Merritt, Penticton and Westside, while the Mills visit Westside, Penticton and Vernon.
To have any hope of making the playoffs, the Kings will have win all three games and Quesnel has to lose all three of its remaining games in regulation time.
