The Penticton Vees have earned their reputation as one of the top teams in the B.C. Hockey League this season.
But they haven’t been all that hot lately and on Wednesday they were no match for the Prince George Spruce Kings, who beat them 6-2 at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
The Kings broke open a scoreless tie in the second period with three goals on Vees goalie Colin Purcell, prompting coach Fred Harbinson to bring backup Carter Serhyenko into the game. Nick Rheaume made it a 3-0 count with his first of the game, 10:24 into the second, after Simon Labelle and Nathan Fox also found the net.
The goalie switch had the desired effect and the Vees’ offence came to life, ending the period with a goal from Joshua Niedermeyer. Josh Nadeau reduced the gap to 3-2 early in the third period, but that that was all the damage Penticton was able to inflict on the Kings’ net guarded by Aaron Trotter. Trotter made 23 saves to lock up his 11th win of the season.
Rheaume took some of the heat off Trotter midway through the third period when he scored his 16th of the season to make it a 4-2 game. Kings captain Kolton Cousins beat Serhyenko on a wraparound and Rowan Miller capped the scoring while shorthanded after Rheaume stole the puck from Vees defenceman Braden Doyle.
The Kings outshot their opponents 28-25 in front of 617 witnesses at RMCA.
The Spruce Kings (18-9-2-1-0, .650 winning percentage) won all three games on their homestand and have now won four in a row. Penticton (21-6-0-2-0, .759 winning percentage) has lost five of its last six games. The Vees are second in the Interior Conference, five points ahead of the third-place Kings.
The Kings will head to Trail for three games this weekend against the Smoke Eaters, a series that starts Friday night.
