Prince George Spruce Kings captain Jake LeBrun is one of the strongest players in the B.C. Hockey League.
Able to squat 700 pounds, that weight training came in handy for the 20-year-old right winger. With the puck at his feet, LeBrun almost singlehandedly killed 30 seconds off the clock with the Wenatcheee Wild desperately trying to free the puck out from the corner boards in the final minute of their game Friday at the Coliseum.
LeBrun made sure the Wild didn't get a sniff of a scoring chance in the dying seconds and the Spruce Kings had themselves a 3-2 victory over the BCHL Mainland Division leaders.
"They're a great team and it was a full team effort, I think we had all 20 guys going the same way," said LeBrun. "It's great to beat Wenatchee. They came in here for our home opener and spanked us for a couple games so obviously it's great to get this win tonight. Hopefully we can just keep building off this."
Dante Raposo was the scoring hero for the Spruce Kings.
Called up this week from the junior B Kamloops Storm, Raposo hustled to beat his check and gained the puck deep in the Wenatchee end with less than five minutes left in regulation time. With only a sliver of net showing behind Wild goalie Chase Perry, the 18-year-old from Airdrie, Alta., floated a wrist shot into the net.
Bryan Basilico and Adam Brubacher also scored for the Kings in front of 1,119 witnesses. Dakota Raabe and Joseph Drabin were the Wild goalscorers.
After being outscored by the Wild 3-0 Friday, the Kings offence came to life late in the first period. Brubacher started a flurry of action in the Wenatchee end when he grazed the goalpost. The Kings retained control and pointman Matt Stief hammered a shot on goal which goalie Chase Perry stopped, but Basilico pounced on the rebound, the fourth goal of the season for the Lake Superior State University (Mich.) recruit.
Sam Tanguay drew his second-straight home start in net for the Kings, after allowing just two goals on 24 shots the previous night. The Kings limited the Wild to just five shots and one goalpost in the opening period.
The Wild snuck one past Tanguay 2:22 into the second period. The 20-year-old from Quebec had no chance of getting across the crease in time to stop Raabe standing off the post in perfect position to snap in a pass from Mike Coyne.
It didn't take long for the Kings to get their lead back and defenceman Brubacher collected his team-leading sixth goal and 14th point to put the Kings ahead 2-1. That came 58 seconds after Raabe's goal. The Wild outshot the Kings 12-4 in the middle frame but still trailed heading into the third period.
Tanguay saved the Kings' bacon with six minutes gone in the third period. The Wild's top line of Blake Christensen, Brendan Harris and August Von Ungern was all over the Kings in the offensive zone and with Tanguay seemingly caught out of position with his back to the play, he somehow got the shaft of his stick in the way of Von Ulgern's blast from the left wing.
Tanguay robbed Von Ungern again with his glove and on the ensuing face-off the Wild gained possession and right winger Drabin picked up a loose puck at the side of the net and shot it in from a sharp angle to make it a 2-2 game with eight minutes left.
"Sam made some clutch saves there in the third period and without him we wouldn't have won that game, it was just amazing," said LeBrun.
The win improved the Kings' record to 5-12-0-1. Despite the loss, Wenatchee (11-5-2-1) held its grip on first place in the Mainland Division, 14 points ahead of Prince George.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Kings were without D Ryan Fritz (knee surgery, day-to-day), D Cooper Prechel (concussion, day-to-day) and F Cavin Tilsley (concussion, day-to-day). The Wild scratched D Tyler Rockwell, F Jeff Makowski, F Hunter Alden and F Daniel Nachbaur. Nachbaur, the 20-year-old son of Spokane Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur, who grew up in Prince George, was traded to Wenatcheee by the Kings over the summer in a deal for futures... The Kings are on the road next weekend with games in Powell River on Friday, Alberni Valley on Saturday and Victoria on Sunday afternoon... Prince George visits Wenatchee for the first time on Nov. 13, the start of another three-game roadtrip which also stops in Chilliwack and Surrey.
