Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Spruce Kings keep on winning

Seaman, Cunningham each score twice in 7-3 BCHL triumph over Chilliwack

Winning is infectious and Prince George Spruce Kings have obviously been bitten by the bug.

They reeled off their sixth-straight victory Friday night in the B.C. Hockey League pod in Chilliwack, defeating their longtime rival Chilliwack Chiefs 7-3.

Andrew Seaman and Corey Cunningham each collected two goals to lead the Kings’ cause. They scored four consecutive goals to bust open a close game and never looked back.

Aaron Trotter made 28 saves for his third-straight win against the Chiefs, who outshot Prince George 31-30.

The Spruce Kings (11-3-0-1-0), remain first in the Chilliwack pod, five points ahead of the second-place Chiefs (10-6-0-0-0). Prince George has five games left in the season, while the Chiefs are down to their last four.

The Kings erased a 1-0 deficit with two goals in the first period, both the result of face-off wins in the offensive zone. Rowan Miller got the puck back to defenceman Mason Waite and the Kings captain blasted a long shot in for his third goal of the season. The Kings captain also assisted on the second Prince George goal when his shot from the point went wide and bounced behind the net out for Cunningham, who shoveled the puck into the slot for centre Carter Cochrane, whose weak shot found the net behind Mathieu Caron.

The Kings got into some penalty trouble in the second period and Chiefs used that to their advantage. Tanner Main had already drawn an interference call when Nick Rheaume was forced to cross-check Chiefs forward Drew Dornan to break up a scoring chance. With two Kings in the box, Tanner Andrew scored to get the Chiefs back on even ground. But it didn’t last long.

Before the second penalty to Rheaume expired, the Kings grabbed the lead again, scoring their seventh shorthanded goal of the season. Camron Johnson overskated the puck in the Chilliwack end and Andrew Seaman was all over it, finishing with a shot over the Caron’s glove.

Seaman wasn’t quite done before the second period ended and cashed in a rebound 32 seconds before the break with the Kings on the power play.

The Kings added two more goals early in the third period to extend the lead to 6-2. Colton Cameron walked in from the point and fired a high shot from the left circle through a screen for his first career BCHL goal in his 55th game. That dates back to the 2018-19 season when the 18-year-old defenceman from Cloverdale made his league debut with the Langley Rivermen.

Cunningham made it 6-2 with his first of the game to chase Caron from the game after he gave up six goals on 22 shots. Jakob Gullmes came in to replace him and the Chiefs got one past Aaron Trotter but Cunningham restored the four-goal lead on a rebound for his third in the pod season.

The Kings are back on the ice at Chilliwack Coliseum on Saturday (5 p.m., www.mixl.com) to face the Merritt Centennials. The Cents have lost all seven games against Prince George this year.