Nobody's pushing the panic button yet.
But four straight losses for the Prince George Spruce Kings to start the B.C. Hockey League season is cause for concern.
Sunday afternoon in Surrey, the Eagles played inhospitable hosts, defeating the Spruce Kings 4-1. That came less than a day after the Kings were blanked 5-0 by the Langley Rivermen Saturday night in Langley.
In their four defeats the Kings have been outscored a combined 22-2.
In Surrey, the Kings had a 1-0 lead heading into the second period on a power-play goal from captain Jake LeBrun. The Eagles tied it 16:35 into the second period with a shorthanded effort from Paul McAvoy, then added three more in the third period to give the partisan South Surrey Arena crowd of 624 more to cheer. Darius Davidson potted two goals, one on the power play and one at even strength with 20 seconds left. Matthew Hermany had the other goal for Surrey.
Daniel Davidson made 40 saves in the Surrey nets as the game's third star. Sam Tanguay drew his second consecutive start for the Kings since arriving in a trade last week from Aurora of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, stopping 30 shots. The Kings outshot Surrey 42-34.
The Kings (0-4-0-0) went 1-for-8 on the power play while Surrey (1-3-0-0) ended up 1-for-4.
On Saturday, the Kings rarely tested Rivermen goalie Bo Didur while he was on his way to a 10-save shutout. Langley scored three goals on 11 power-play opportunities and held the Spruce Kings power play scoreless in seven chances.
Justin Szeto had the only goal of the first period, Dominic Franco added to the total in the second and Cameron Ginetti, Justin Fregona and Zac Masson scored third-period goals on Tanguay. Shots were 23-10 in Langley's favour.
The game drew a crowd of 2,432 to Langley Events Centre. In a battle for first place Sunday in the Mainland Division, the Rivermen (2-1-0-0) lost at home to the expansion Wenatcheee Wild (3-0-0-0).
The Kings will be at the BCHL Showcase this weekend in Chilliwack to play the Trail Smoke Eaters (2-2-0-0) Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a Sunday game at 1 p.m. against the Victoria Grizzlies (0-3-0-0). The Grizzlies and Spruce Kings are the only BCHL teams still seeking their first wins.
