It was close, but the Prince George Spruce Kings couldn't halt the Penticton Vees consecutive win streak Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at the Castle.
The Vees (54-3-0-2) ran their streak to 42 games with an 8-5 win, scoring four unanswered goals in the third period for the win over the Kings (32-21-2-4). The Kings' played a strong 40 minutes of hockey much to the delight of the 2,112 fans, but looked nervous in the final 20 minutes and the visitors' capitalized on the mistakes from the tight grip the Kings had on their sticks.
The Kings' loss, combined with a Merritt Centennials (33-18-2-6) 6-2 win over the Trial Smoke Eaters means the Cents clinch second place in the Interior Conference and home-ice advantage in the first round of the British Columbia Hockey League Playoffs. The Kings can still finish fourth and face the Vees in the first round, but the Chilliwack Chiefs (31-22-1-3) rebounded from 4-0 and 6-3 deficits in Coquitlam, tying the game at 6-6 with eight seconds to play.
Penticton didn't miss a beat, scoring to early third-period goals to take a 6-5 lead on a rattled Kings' crew. Wade Murphy tied the game at 5-5 with his 36th goal of the year and Steven Fogarty gave the Vess the lead with an unassisted, shorthanded marker.
Mario Lucia took over the BCHL lead in goals scored with a hat trick and now has 42 goals, while the Kings Paul De Jersey has 41 goals. Penticton's Joey Benik also took over the points' lead from De Jersey with a pair of goals. Benik has 96 points while De Jersey has 95.
Benik's second goal, which made it 7-5 with less than five minutes to play was controversial as the Vees appeared to have had an extra skater at the time, but the three-men in zebra stripes only counted to five.
The Vees received the first power play but it was De Jersey and the Kings who capitalized, taking an early 1-0 lead after the 41-goal scorer stole the puck from a Penticton defender and went down on a two-on-one, faking a pass before beating Vees' goalie Chad Katunar with the shorthanded marker. But the Vees showed why they average 5.59 goals for when Lucia and captain Logan Johnston gave the visitors a 2-1 lead with goals 71 seconds apart. Lucia's goal was a power-play marker, while Johnston sent a one-timer from the slot past Ty Swabb in the Kings' net.
Katunar was stellar in the Vees' net facing 42 shots, including 13 in the final period, making several unbelievable saves. Swabb faced 40 in the Kings' net.
Prince George tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal of their own on Gerry Fitzgerald's 17th of the season. Kings defencemen Ben Matthews and Ben Woodley assisted.
The scoring festival continued in the second period as Lucia completed the hat trick with a pair of goals for the Vees, but Michael Colantone responded with two goals and an assist for the Kings, keeping the score tied at 4-4. Myles Fitzgerald broke the tie late in the period, taking a perfect pass from Jujhar Khaira to give the Kings a 5-4 lead heading into the intermission.
Royal notes: Vees' goalie, and Prince George native, Michael Garteig watched the game from the stands, out of the Penticton lineup with a "lower-body injury." Brandon Manning was the second former Spruce Kings' player to make their NHL debut in recent weeks. Manning played o the blueline for the Philadelphia Flyers when they beat the Florida Panthers 5-0 on Thursday. ON Feb.26 goaltender Brad Thiessen played in net for the Pittsburgh Penguins and played his second game Wed. March 7. Thiessen still holds the Kings' record for shutouts in a season with five and is 2-0 in the NHL with wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs. Thiessen's five shutouts with the Kings were notched in Oct. 2005 when he set a record of 250 minutes and 25 seconds of shutout hockey. The Kings and Vees wrap up the regular season tonight at the Castle with a 7 p.m. game.
