The Prince George Spruce Kings' winning streak has ended -- one game after it began.
The Kings dropped a 7-4 decision to the Cowichan Valley Capitals Wednesday night in Duncan to start a four-game roadtrip.
Mike Hammond and Jordan Grant each had two goals and two assists to lead the Caps' cause. Shawn Mueller also scored twice on Kings goalie Ryan Benitez, whose team trailed 4-0 after one period.
RJay Berra, Connor Tiechko, Faiz Khan and Chris Bodo were the Kings goalscorers.
The Capitals' season has mirrored that of the Spruce Kings -- both teams have struggled out of the gate. The Caps (4-7-0-0) moved ahead of idle Victoria into sixth place in the Coastal Conference while the Kings (2-8-0-2) remained stuck in seventh place in the Interior Conference.
The Kings' Island Division tour resumes Friday night in Nanaimo, where they take on the last-place Clippers. Prince George plays the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Saturday night in Port Alberni, then travels to Victoria for a Sunday afternoon game against the Grizzlies. Seven of the next eight games for the Kings are on on the road. They return to the Coliseum Oct. 20 to take on Powell River.
n The Spruce Kings, Quesnel Millionaires and the College of New Caledonia have partnered in a promotion that offers half-price game tickets this season to CNC student and employees. The special rate applies to all eight Spruce Kings-Millionaires games (home and away) in 2010-11. The team with the best record head-to-head in the season series wins the CNC Cup, which the Mills claimed last season. The Spruce Kings pay their first regular season visit to Quesnel on Oct. 16.
