The Prince George Spruce Kings knew they couldn't take the Surrey Eagles lightly when they rolled into town on the weekend.
Even though the Eagles only have three wins under their wings this season in the B.C. Hockey League, the Kings still had to be at their best to sweep Surrey in a two-game set Friday and Saturday at the Coliseum.
Kings forward Jake LeBrun tallied twice in a 5-2 win Saturday to hand the Eagles their 10th straight loss, while the Kings improved to 14-8-0-2 to maintain their lead atop the Mainland Division.
The pair of games (including a 6-3 win Friday) were the second and third meetings of the season between the two teams. Prince George beat the Eagles 3-1 in the first meeting of the season Sept. 28 in Surrey where the Kings scored twice in the final minute to win the game.
"They played us tough, they're fast and fairly physical and we have to grind them out," said Kings head coach Dave Dupas. "The funny thing is they [the Eagles] came in, they were all happy and smiling and there was nothing for them to lose. They didn't worry about losing and took some chances.
"For us, it was a trap game after playing so many good teams in a row and we couldn't take them lightly. They don't have the finish to win those games. I knew it was going to be tough."
Saturday night, the game was tied at 1-1 in the first period on goals from Darius Davidson for Surrey and Matthew Stief for the Kings.
In the second period, the Kings built a 3-1 lead after goals from left-winger Justin Rai, who scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season, and LeBrun who notched his ninth of the season.
Surrey's Brian Drapluk narrowed the lead to 3-2 early in the third period, but defenceman Valik Chichkin and LeBrun extended the Kings cushion and secured the win.
On Friday, the Kings struggled for the first two periods, but erupted in the third on a pair of goals from Rai and single tallies from LeBrun and Adam Clements for a 6-3 win.
"I thought we were going to win those games but didn't think the first game would be as difficult," said Dupas. "We didn't score on our chances. But it was good to see the guys get a little intensity in the third period and started moving their feet. It was good to see the character come through."
The Kings travel to Chilliwack tomorrow for a Wednesday night tilt against the 12-7-0-1 Chiefs, who are five points behind Prince George in second place in the Mainland Division.
The Chiefs have lost three-straight games after a road trip on the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island where they suffered losses against Powell River (6-1), Alberni Valley (4-2) and Nanaimo (10-2).
Dupas said that road trip was the first tough test of the season for Chilliwack.
"We did that road trip through the Island where we had two wins and through the Interior in Merritt and West Kelowna and had a couple more wins, but Chilliwack hadn't done that yet until now," he said. "They were beating Coquitlam and Surrey."
The Kings return home to face the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Friday and don't play again until Nov. 25 when West Kelowna visits.
The two teams last met Nov. 9 when the Kings suffered a 5-0 shut-out loss to wrap up a three-game road trip. That was the start of a brief two-game losing streak which also included a 3-0 loss to Vernon Nov. 12 at the Coliseum.
"In West Kelowna we were down 4-0 after one and outshot 21-10 - it was a good game," said Dupas. "We ran into a hot goaltender. Everything was going in for them and we couldn't stop it. Now Vernon, that was disappointing, it wasn't a good game for us. I've seen that happen with a lot of teams this year after getting home from a road trip. We had no energy and after that game I didn't really want to play Surrey because they [the Kings] wouldn't be as focused."
