Chad Staley scored his second goal of the game to give the Prince George Spruce Kings a 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Langley Rivermen Friday night at the Coliseum.
The goal, at the 2:35-minute mark of the first overtime period, snapped a brief two-game losing skid by the Kings who now improve to 6-2-0-1 and 13 points in the B.C. Hockey League's Mainland Division.
It was the sixth goal of the season for the Kings captain.
The Kings maintain their lead over their rival Chilliwack Chiefs who beat Merritt 7-1 Friday night.
The Rivermen improve to 3-3-0-2 to sit third in the Division with eight points.
In the hard-fought, back and forth contest, Prince George had a 3-2 lead with 58 seconds left in the game when Braiden Epp notched his second of the season with four minutes left in the game.
But with Kings forward Taylor Allan in the penalty box for a two-minute roughing penalty, Langley forward Kevan Kilistoff scored the equalizer, his second of the game with 58 seconds left in regulation.
Trailing 2-1, Will Cook evened the game for Langley at 2-2 at the 7:27-mark of the third period with Staley serving a two-minute minor penalty for tripping.
Staley broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period on a Kings powerplay to give the Kings a 2-1 lead going into the third period. It was Staley's fourth goal of the season.
The Kings finally got on the scoreboard early in the second frame when 20-year-old forward Justin Rai potted his ninth of the season on a nice passing play with Marco Ballarin to draw even with the Rivermen.
Forward Kevan Kilistoff gave Langley a 1-0 lead 57 seconds into the first period.
Langley netminder Bo Didur swept aside 28 of 32 shots he faced, while Kings starting netminder Alex Brooks-Potts made 29 of 32 saves.
The Spruce Kings now head south for a four-game road trip beginning Wednesday in Chilliwack. They visit Powell River on Friday, Oct. 17, Nanaimo on Saturday, Oct. 18 and Alberni Valley on Sunday, Oct. 19.
Ice chips: Defenceman Raymond Grewal made his first appearance in a Spruce Kings uniform Friday night. Grewal, 19, who spent four seasons over 129 games with his hometown Prince George Cougars, was reassigned by the WHL club on Thursday.
