We’ve got ourselves a series.
The Prince George Spruce Kings made sure of that Saturday night in a tense 2-0 win over the Chilliwack Chefs at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena which tied the best-of-seven series BCHL Mainland Division 1-1.
After getting skunked through the first five periods of the series, the Spruce Kings finally scored, and the gamewinner came from an unlikely source, 37 seconds into the third period.
Ethan de Jong started it when he took off on a long rush to catch up to a lead pass and drew both Chiefs defencemen as he got the puck on net. Before the rebound could get cleared, Kings defenceman Jay Keranen streaked in and lifted the puck high into the empty net behind Chenard.
For Keranen, a 19-year-old from Brighton, Mich., one of the Kings’ top shutdown defenceman, who joined the team19 games into the regular season from Topeka of the North American Hockey League, it was his first goal of any kind in any BCHL game. He admitted the Kings were feeling the pressure of not being able to score so long into the series.
“I saw Ethan take off up ice - I knew if I flipped it up there he could make a play and he did - and I just followed up and got the puck on my stick and put it away,” said Keranen.
“That was huge, going into Game 3 tied 1-1 is a lot better than going down 0-2, we beared down and got it done tonight. I was thinking about that going into the third, it’s not usual for us, usually our top line has a goal a game.
“That’s got to be the biggest one since about mites, I would say,” he laughed. “It was a good thing I waited this long, that was a big one.”
Keranen’s goal cracked open what had been an extremely tight-checking affair. The Chiefs had the edge in the quality-chance department the rest of the period but could not put one past Evan DeBrouwer. He was superb, as he has been most of the season, making 20 saves for his first career BCHL shutout.
The Chiefs offered significant pushback after Keranen scored, starting with a P.J. Marrocco shot right away that DeBrouwer had to kick aside. The Kings came within a Kyle Johnson goalpost of making it a 2-0 count eight minutes into the period but were hanging on for their dear lives a few times towards the end.
It got so tense, with Chenard on the bench for the extra skater, Kings general manager Mike Hawes from his perch in the press box couldn’t handle the suspense and had to look away from the action on the ice. That tension finally melted when Ben Brar got the puck at centre and fired it into the empty net to seal it.
After having to endure some catcalls from the Chiefs during and after their 3-0 victory in Game 1 Friday at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, Brar couldn’t resist a little chin-wagging of his own after he scored with 38 seconds left and that drew the ire of the Chilliwack bench as Adam Berg retaliated with a bit of a cross-check directed at the Kings left winger. Tempers flared on both sides at that point but the officials managed to keep a cap on the violence until time expired.
“Patty (Cozzi) found me there and I put it in the empty net to kind of ice the game,” said Brar. “I kind of looked at their bench and they were chirping a lot yesterday but didn’t have much to say today. You’ve got to stir the pot a little bit.”
The teams will resume hostilities Monday night in Chilliwack, with Game 4 to follow on Tuesday. The Kings’ win guarantees they will play again in front of a home crowd, with Game 5 in Prince George Thursday night.
If needed, Game 6 will be Saturday in Chilliwack, while a seventh game would be played Sunday night at RMCA.
Both teams played it cautiously in the opening period, each with only a couple good cracks at the net and it was much of the same in the second period.
DeBrouwer came out challenge Will Calverley to take away a great chance for the Chiefs with 13 minutes gone in the second and the 20-year-old goalie stood tall stopping Berg’s backhander through a crowd with four minutes left in the period.
The Kings had a little more offensive zone time in Period 2 and the Patrick Cozzi-Dustin Manz-Blake Hayward line created some havoc with a strong shift midway through the period. Hayward just missed getting the handle on the puck facing an open net after a shot came in from the point. The Kings were held to just four second-period shots, outshot 14-11 through two.
“It’s a tight series, both teams, if you look at the shots on net and what’s been generated, it’s pretty tight,” said Kings head coach Adam Maglio. “Obviously we want to score an nd we got the first one tonight, it just happened a little later than we wanted. Certainly it gives the team confidence but we got a little sloppy after (the goal).
“Evan was terrific again for us, he’s just so consistent, we know what we’re getting every game. He made every save he had to and probably made a couple that we gave up a little too easy to them.
“We have to be a little sharper through the neutral zone still and that will create more offence for us. It’s a bit bigger ice in Chilliwack and with our speed we don’t mind playing on the bigger ice at all. I think it opens up more offensively a bit more, especially through the neutral zone for us.”
This series is shaping up to be a long one and Calverley, the Chiefs captain, is not the least bit surprised.
“They’re a good team, obviously (Friday) night we got the better of them and (Saturday)
They gave a good effort and worked hard and stuck with their gameplan and they ended up capitalizing,” said Calverley. “It’s a close series and it can go either way any night.”] They did a good job weathering the storm, their goalie played well but any night it’s whoever buries and they ended up capitalizing.
“We’ve seen in other (six) times in the last month so obviously we have some tensions flaring. It’s not playoffs if it doesn’t get a little blood boiling.”
The Spruce Kings were the least-penalized team in the BCHL and the Chiefs were the third-most penalized. Both teams have managed to stay out of the box in the two games, knowing the stakes are so high.
“The whole season they’ve been trying to start stuff with is to try to get us off our game and we just have to play our game and keep working hard,” said Keranen.
All games of the series are being broadcast on CFIS FM 93.1. Ron Gallo will call the play-by-play for the road games. Brendan Pawliw will be behind the mic for games in Prince George.
B.C Hockey League playoffs
Mainland Division semifinal
Game 2
Saturday’s result
Chiefs 0 at Spruce Kings 2
First Period
No scoring.
Penalties – Hovde PG (hooking) 18:58.
Second Period
No scoring.
Penalties –Yewchuk CWK (roughing) 2:10.
Third Period
1. Prince George, Keranen 1 (de Jong) 0:37
2. Prince George, Brar 1 (Cozzi) 19:21 (en)
Penalties – Calverley CWK (roughing), Brar PG (unsportsmanlike conduct) 19:21, Kimens CWK (roughing), Yewchuk CWK (double-roughing, served by Slick), Chapman PG (roughing), Watson-Brawn PG (roughing) 1954.
Shots on goal by
Chilliwack 7 7 6 -20
Prince George7 4 6 -17
Goal – Chenard (L,1-1); Prince George, DeBrouwer (W,1-1).
Power plays – CWK: 0-1; PG: 0-2,
Referees – Jeff Eden, Nick Panter; Linesmen – Anthony Maletta, Nick Albinati.
Attendanc156.e – 1,
Scratches – CWK: D Anthony Vincent (served second game of four-game suspension for illegal hit in Feb. 23 game against Prince George), F Wyatt Elmer (healthy); Prince George: F Ben Poisson (spleen/shoulder injury, out for season), D Oliver Lester (sprained ankle, week to week), F Corey Cunningham (healthy).
