The Prince George Spruce Kings are going to the second round of the B.C. Hockey League playoffs.
Rowan Miller made sure of that when he scored his second goal of the game 13:42 into overtime to eliminate the Cranbrook Bucks in Game 6 of their Interior Conference semifinal series Saturday in Cranbrook.
Miller put on a burst of speed as he took a pass from linemate Simon Labelle just inside the Cranbrook zone. Miller split the Bucks defence through the slot and lifted a shot in over the glove hand of goalie Nathan Airey for the series winner.
The 20-year-old Miller also scored the tying goal late in the third period.
Trailing 2-1 in the third period the Spruce Kings lost starting goalie Aaron Trotter when he got run over by a charging Zeth Kindrachuk. The Bucks forward was assessed a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct, which carries an automatic two-game suspension. Trotter left the ice and was replaced by Jordan Fairlie with 11:20 left in the third period.
The Kings were unable to score during their five-minute power play but got what they were after three minutes later. Miller took a pass from linemate Nick Rheaume on a 2-on-1 break and chipped the puck in over the shoulder of Airey to tie the game 2-2.
After a scoreless opening period, the Bucks converted on the power play to open the scoring 6:14 into the second period. Six-foot-six defenceman Declan Ride scored his first of the playoffs and that got the crowd of 3,002 buzzing at Western Financial Place.
A quick shot off a face-off from Evan Fedele tied it for the Spruce Kings less than a minute later, but the Cranbrook power play stuck again 13:25 into the second. Tyson Dyck collected his fourth goal of the playoffs for a 2-1 Bucks’ lead.
The Kings outshot the Bucks 43-25 through three periods and 50-30 in the game. Fairlie stopped all 10 shots he faced in 13:42 of game action, five of which came in overtime.
Aftr winning the best-of-seven series 4-2, the Kings will await the outcome of Monday’s Game 7 in Salmon Arm between the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and Wenatchee Wild. The Wild tied the series 3-3 Saturday night in Wenatchee with a 5-1 victory. Quinn Emerson scored three goals for the Wild.
Wenatchee is the lowest-seeded team left alive in the Interior Conference playoffs and they would face the top-ranked Penticton Vees of they win Monday. That would pit the Spruce Kings against the West Kelowna Warriors in a second-round best-of-seven series. A Salmon Arm win would mean the Spruce Kings would be matched with Penticton in the second round.
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