Winning in the B.C. Hockey League is sweet.
Beating a divisional opponent is positively heavenly.
The Prince George Spruce Kings got that feeling Thursday in a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the visiting Langley Rivermen.
Parker Colley was the scoring hero for the Spruce Kings with two goals and an assist, including the gamewinner 5:50 into the third period, with a Rolling Mix Concrete Arena crowd of 579 watching.
The win increased the Spruce Kings' lead over the fourth-place Rivermen to six points. The Kings (15-12-1-2) ended two-game losing streak at the expense of the Rivermen (11-14-3-2), who came into town having won three of their last four games.
The goals came fast and furious in a frantic third period that packed more action, great scoring chances and scintillating saves than the other two periods combined.
It started 30 seconds into the final frame when Langley forward Andrew Dumaresque ended a goal-mouth scramble by banking in a shot off the back of Kings goalie Tavin Grant.
The Kings responded by scoring the next three goals. Ben Poisson took a cross-ice pass centre from Keegan Ward and went hard to the net. Goalie Bo Didur stuffed him on his original shot but Poisson seized his own rebound and dumped in a backhander to tie the game 3-3.
The Kings got their cycle working in the Langley end, and after Hunter Luhmann twice rang shots of the goalpost, Colley collected his second of the night, following up on Connor Russell's shot from the point. That came two minutes after Poisson scored.
The Rivermen were on the power play midway through the period when Kings captain Brett Mennear picked off a clearing pass and buried his shot from the slot to give the Kings a two-goal lead, his team-leading 15th goal of the season.
The Rivermen offered some major pushback down the stretch when the Kings took three straight minor penalties but Grant refused to give in to the pressure. He denied labelled shots from close range from Zac Masson and Brendan Budy and twice robbed Mckay Flanagan while Didur was on the bench for the extra skater.
It was one of Grant's finest periods since he joined the Kings from junior B ranks in October as he made 13 saves.
Langley went up 2-1 midway through the second period. Sean Gulka won the draw in the Kings' zone and got the puck back in the face-off circle, beating Grant with a low shot. The Kings reminded themselves of the value of winning face-offs late in the period when they took advantage of a power-play chance to tie it up 2-2. Jarod Hovde gained possession in the circle and the puck came back to pointman Drew Lennon. Lennon's shot was stopped by Didur but the 19-year-old goalie from West Vancouver was unable to stop Hovde on the rebound.
Colley opened the scoring 8:15 into the game when he intercepted the puck just outside the Langley zone and cruised in rifle in a backhander. Angus Crookshank got the Rivermen back on even terms in the final minute of the first period.
The same teams meet in the rematch tonight at 7 at RMCA.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Spruce Kings announced Thursday morning assistant coach Ryan Howse has left the team due to personal reasons and has relocated to Calgary. Howse, a former Calgary Flames draft pick, who coached the Prince George midget Tier 1 team to the provincial championship last spring, served three seasons as a scout for the Kings before he joined the coaching staff this past summer.
Game Summary
Rivermen 3, Spruce Kings 5
First Period
1. Prince George, Colley 9, 8:05
2. Langley, Crookshank 2 (Clendenin, Leitch) 19:06
Penalties - Poisson PG (hooking) 1:49, Schuldt Lan (cross-checking, high-sticking) 10:02, Russell PG (interference) 14:34.
Second Period
3. Langley, Clendenin 3 (Gulka) 11:37
4. Prince George, Hovde 11 (Lennon, Colley) 18:52 (pp)
Penalties - Lennon PG (holding) 3:35, Russell PG (slashing) 14:26, Butte Lan (slashing) 17:23.
Third Period
5. Langley, Dumaresque 6 (Payne, Ginetti) 0:30
6. Prince Poisson 6, 3:43
7. Prince George, Colley 10 (Russell, Luhmann) 5:50
8. Prince George, Mennear 15, 9:45 (sh)
Penalties -Livingstone Lan (tripping) 6:10, Burnett PG (slashing) 7:28, Coley PG (holding) 12:57, Anderson PG (slashing) 17:50.
Shots on goal by
Langley 9 10 14 -33
Prince George 14 8 13 -35
Goal - Langley, Didur (L,6-17.0); Prince George, Grant (W,8-6-0).
Power plays - Lan: 0-7; PG: 1-4.
Referee - Mike Langin; Linesmen - Josh Albinati, Nick Albinati.
Attendance - 579.
