The Prince George Spruce Kings are spending too much time in the penalty box, giving up too many shots and are relying on their veteran goaltenders a bit too much, but the bottom line is they are winning hockey games.
The Kings continued that pattern on the weekend, winning two of three road games to climb into a tie for first place in the BCHL's Mainland Division.
After earning a split in Coquitlam -- a 5-3 win Friday followed by a 3-2 loss Saturday -- the Kings met the Surrey Eagles for the first time this season Sunday afternoon in Surrey and won 3-1 in dramatic fashion.
With overtime looming and the teams tied 1-1, Kings' captain Chad Staley connected on a pass from Justin Rai and beat Eagles goalie Christian Short for the gamewinner with just 15.8 seconds left. Brent Lashuk added one more for the Kings at 19:58, guaranteeing a happy bus ride back to Prince George.
"We took way too many penalties and got ourselves behind the 8-ball and then we started to roll," said Kings head coach Dave Dupas. "We had a ton of chances and Jesse [Jenks] kept us in it and we took to to them. Their goalie [Short] played well and made it a lot tighter than it probably should have been."
Rai, a 20-year-old native of Surrey who notched a hat trick in Friday's game, opened the scoring eight seconds into the second period with an unassisted effort. Ben Butcher got the Eagles back on even terms 2:02 into the second.
Kings goalie Jenks was picked as the second star of the game, making 34 saves as the Kings outshot Surrey 44-36. Jenks also notched the win on Friday, making 36 saves.
In Saturday's game, Colton Kerfoot scored the winner for the Express with 20 seconds left, picking up a loose puck that deflected off the glass while Coquitlam was trying to hold off a late charge by the Kings. Owen Stout and Corey Mackin also scored for Coquitlam, while Braiden Epp and Jake LeBrun, with a third-period goal, were the Kings scorers on Saturday. Alex Brooks-Pots made 28 saves in the Kings' nets to earn second star honours.
"We didn't play well until the third period, when we really took it to them," said Dupas. "We did tie the game up and then we gave one up. They were just basically icing the puck and it hit a stanchion and bounced right in the middle to [Kerfoot] at full stride and he made a good play and put it in."
The Eagles (0-3-0-2) went 0-6 on the power play while the Kings were scoreless in two opportunities. On Friday, the Express cashed in three of seven power-play chances, while the Kings went 3-for-4. Coquitlam (1-3-0-2) also went 1-for-5 on the power play on Saturday.
Now 4-1-0-0 on the season, the Kings are tied with Chilliwack atop the division. The Chiefs (4-0-0-0) have a game in hand over the Kings, who host Chilliwack in a two-game home-opening weekend set this Friday and Saturday at the Coliseum
