Jujhar Khaira had a pair of goals Saturday as the Prince George Spruce Kings completed the sweep of the Trail Smoke Eaters in the BCHL weekend series.
The 5-2 win in front of 641 fans at The Coliseum was the Spruce Kings fourth consecutive victory, improving their record to 5-3-0-1. With the win the Kings vaulted ahead of the Westside Warriors (5-4) into third place in the Interior Conference, pending the outcome of the Warriors game with Salmon Arm.
Once again, the Kings' top line of Khaira, Michael Colantone and Paul De Jersey terrorized their opponents putting up 10 points, including combining on an empty-net goal by De Jersey to seal the game.
Khaira had three points, De Jersey had two goals and two assists and Colanton had four helpers.
Sean Landrey had the other goal for the Kings, his second of the season.
Marcus Beesley made his fourth consecutive start in the Prince George net and faced 24 Smoke Eaters shots, a night after posting his first career BCHL shutout, while Matt Larose faced 44 shots in the Trail net.
The Smoke Eaters opened the scoring midway through the second period on a blast from the top of the slot by defenceman Nick Wong. Clayton Chessa also scored for the Smoke Eaters (1-6-1).
The Spruce Kings return to action Thursday when the Coquitlam Express (4-3-1) visit the castle at 7 p.m.
Cougars drop third straight game
In Kamloops, the Prince George Cougars were blanked 3-0 by the Blazers, ending their WHL road trip at 2-5.
Dylan Willick, Colin Smith and Tim Bozen had the goals for Kamloops. Cougars goaltender Drew Oswley made 23 saves, while Cole Cheveldave earned the 26-save shutout.
The Cougars return home to prepare for a weekend series with the Tri-City Americans and former goaltender Ty Rimmer. The 19 year old goalie picked up his second shutout in three starts Saturday as the Americans blanked the Vancouver Giants 5-0.
