Needing a win to stay alive in the playoffs against the Surrey Eagles, the Prince George Spruce Kings turned to the scientific approach that worked so well for them in the opening game of the series.
It was all about time and space and they gave very little of either to the Eagles. The Kings' methodology paid off in a 4-1 Game 5 victory Thursday night at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena which moved Prince George to within a game of tying the best-of-seven BCHL Mainland Division final series.
Kyle Johnson, Dustin Manz, Blake Hayward, and Patrick Cozzi took care of the Spruce Kings' offence and Evan DeBrouwer made 18 saves for his sixth win of the playoffs, in front of a crowd of 1,348.
"I thought we got back to the work ethic that made us successful in the regular season and the playoffs, the guys worked really hard tonight and were rewarded for their efforts," said Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
"Evan made the saves he needed to but we did a good job of boxing them out, limiting their chances. We have a strong defensive team and we showed that. The difference was we capitalized on the opportunities we got."
Bad starts have come back to haunt the Spruce Kings in their three losses to the Eagles in the series and but nobody could fault the passion the home side showed in the opening 10 minutes and they were rewarded with a 1-0 lead. Ethan de Jong deftly deked around two Eagles while carrying the puck across the Surrey blueline and passed to Johnson, whose shot from 30 feet out had enough steam to go in under the glove of Mario Cavaliere.
That goal came five minutes after the 20-year-old Cavaliere bailed out his team with diving glove save to rob Spencer Chapman point blank in the slot.
Much like the first two games of the series, the Kings dominated puck possession and built up a big shot advantage. Through two periods, they outshot the Eagles 28-9 and two of those shots found their way into the Eagles' net in the second period.
The Prince George power play, good on less than nine per cent of its chances in the previous 11 playoff games, struck twice in the game. The first came 15:17 into the second period. Manz won the offensive-zone face-off and got the puck back to pointman Liam Watson-Brown, whose shot didn't get through, but Johnson gained possession and shot from the side of the net and the rebound came out to Manz, who had the open side for his third of the playoffs. That would turn out to be the game-winner.
For Johnson the Kings' captain, it was one of his most productive efforts of the playoffs, and it came just in time to give the Kings another lifeline.
"Kyle hasn't had the type of year that he wanted, and he would be the first to admit that, but there's games like this where a character guy like Kyle really steps up his game and he did that tonight and put the team on his shoulder and led the way and it was great to see," said Hawes.
Less than minute after Manz scored, Hayward won the draw in the Surrey end and got the puck back to Dylan Anhorn, whose shot hit Hayward's stick and floated high over Cavaliere's shoulder and dropped into the net.
In the third period, with Eagles defenceman Ross Norton still serving a holding penalty that carried over through the intermission, the Kings got their fourth goal after another key face-off win. Johnson pulled the puck back to defenceman Jay Keranen, who had to hurry to keep the puck in at the blueline. Jarod Hovde drove to the net and left the puck on Cavaliere's doorstep for Cozzi, who dragged it across the crease and in.
The Eagles broke up the shutout bid for DeBrouwer with eight minutes left, while on a two-man advantage. Desi Burgart scored his 10th of the playoffs, finding the net with a wrist shot from the slot.
The teams will reconvene for Game 6 Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Surrey, where the Spruce Kings are 0-6 this season, including two playoff losses at South Surrey Arena. The game will be broadcast on CFIS FM 93.1. If Game 7 is needed, it will be played Sunday at 7 p.m. in Prince George.
The series winner will move on to the third round against either the Powell River Kings or Victoria Grizzlies. The Grizzlies trail the Island Division final three games to one and will try to stay alive in Game 5 tonight in Victoria.
