It too little too late for the Prince George Spruce Kings as a late third-period comeback wasn't enough Sunday in Penticton.
The Kings (4-2-1-1) dropped their second game of a three-game road swing through the Interior Conference of the BCHL, falling 4-3 in Penticton to the Vees (7-1) at the South Okanagan Events Centre. The loss followed a 6-2 defeat Saturday in Merritt against the Centennials (4-1-1).
Despite outplaying the Vees through the final 40 minutes the Kings couldn't beat goaltender Chad Katunar until the final two minutes when they beat him twice in 40 seconds. Prince George out shot Penticton 25-9 in the final two periods after the Vees had a 14-3 edge in the first 20 minutes but only escaped with a 1-1 tie.
Liam McLeod started in the Kings' net after Kirk Thompson played the first two games of the road trip, a 5-2 win in Vernon before the 6-2 loss in Merritt. The 16-year-old played well in the Kings net.
Michael Rebry beat McLeod twice - the first time came midway through the second period on a dump-in that bounced off the back wall, off the back of the goalie's skate and into the net to extend the Vees' lead to 3-1. Rebry made it 4-1 on a shorthanded penalty shot, going five-hole to beat McLeod.
The penalty shot came with about 15 seconds left in a five-on-three advantage the Kings had but were unable to tally a goal. The go-ahead goal came 31 seconds into the second period off the stick of the Vees' Sam Mellor during a power play.
Chad Staley and Lyndon Martell scored 40 seconds apart with slightly more than two minutes left to pull the Kings within one at 4-3, putting some energy into the otherwise listless 1,202 spectators as they encouraged the home team to hold on for the win.
Liam Board opened the scoring in the first period for Prince George with his third goal of the season before James De Haas tied the game at 1-1.
The Kings finished the game without first-line forward Coltyn Hansen who was handed a game misconduct late in the second period for too much chirping at the referee.
Saturday night at the Nicola Valley Arena in Merritt the Kings held a 2-1 lead early in the second period but ran into penalty trouble and the Centennials capitalized with three consecutive power-play goals. Overall Merritt was 3-of-7 with the man advantage while the Kings were 0-for-2.
Derek Huisman scored twice for the Centennials while Silvan Harper had the other power-play marker. John Saunders, Jeff Wright and Sebastien Pare had even-strength goals for Merritt.
The Kings goals came off the sticks of Sean Landrey, his second of the season, and Jake LeBrun with his first.
Prince George held the edge in shots 35-31 including doubling up Merritt in the final period 16-8 as they battled to get back into the game.
The Kings head down to the Lower Mainland for a trio of division games Friday to Sunday against the Surrey Eagles (4-3-0-1) and Langley Rivermen (3-2-0-1), starting in Surrey on Friday, 7 p.m. and wrapping up with a pair in Langley - Saturday, 7:15 p.m. and Sunday, 2 p.m.
