The Coquitlam Express felt the sting first.
Then it was the Chilliwack Chiefs' turn.
And in the opener of the B.C. Hockey League Coastal Conference championship Friday night at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, the Victoria Grizzlies got their first taste of how hard it's going to be beat the Prince George Spruce Kings out of the playoffs.
They lost 4-2 to the Kings in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series and were left wondering how to defuse a withering attack their opponents sustained over large stretches of the game.
Dylan Anhorn, Patrick Cozzi, Ben Poisson and Corey Cunningham staked the Spruce Kings to a 4-0 lead and they survived a brief comeback attempt from the Grizzlies to win their 14th straight game on home ice, much to the delight of a near-sellout crowd of 2,067.
"I think we played well at the start of every period and the way we were able to capitalize on our opportunities early in that second period was certainly the difference in the game," said Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
"That's how we've won games all year long and through the playoffs is (scoring) by committee and we saw that in fine form tonight."
Already leading 1-0 on a goal from Anhorn, the Spruce Kings did most of the damage in a three-goal second period, scoring on their first two shots of the period. Just 10 seconds into the period, Cozzi caught up to a dump-in from Jay Keranen that bounced off the end boards and backhanded in a shot from close range.
On the ensuing face-off, the Kings chipped the puck deep into Grizzly territory and Chong Min Lee fed a pass out to the captain, Poisson, who tapped it in for his team-leading ninth of the playoffs.
The Kings added to the total at the 6:51 mark for a 4-0 lead. Lucas Vanroboys sprung linemate Cunningham with a breakaway chip pass and the 17-year-old Prince George minor hockey product finished with a wide deke for his second postseason goal.
The Grizzlies rediscovered their skating legs and cut the lead in half with two quick goals in the latter half of the second period.
Alex Newhook won a face-off in the Kings' end and caught up to the puck behind the goal line and fed a pass to Alexander Campbell, whose high backhander sailed in over Logan Neaton's shoulder with 10 minutes gone in the period. Then at 14:18, Cameron Thompson got his own rebound just outside the crease and lifted the puck in under the crossbar over a fallen Neaton.
Neaton had to come up with a few more quality saves to keep the two-goal lead intact but the Kings ended the period with sustained pressure in the offensive zone. The shots were 30-19 Prince George after two periods and ended up 40-27 in the game.
The Kings dominated a scoreless third period but the Grizzlies came close to making it a one-goal game with about five minutes left when Newhook let go a ripper from the slot but Neaton was ready for it and stuck out his glove to deflect it away,
In a frenzied opening period the ice was tilted and Spruce Kings seemed to mesmerize their opponents with quick feet and an aggressive forecheck that produced plenty of close calls. They outshot the Grizzlies 19-7 in the opening 20 minutes and forced goalie Kurtis Chapman to make at least seven quality saves. The one puck that did get through Chapman's armour came with just 50 seconds left in the period. Cunningham started the play with some relentless work behind the net and the puck came out to Cozzi, who made a back-door pass to pointman Anhorn. Anhorn didn't get a lot on his low shot but it had enough steam to find the net just inside the post.
"When we get close to 2,100 people and the building's rocking our players feed off of it and with how hard they work they get that extra energy from the crowd," said Hawes.
"Prince George is great the way they support this team and it was certainly nice to see the building full tonight."
The game marked the BCHL debut of Spruce King centre Finn Williams and on his first shift, five minutes in, the 15-year-old from North Vancouver just about scored. He broke into the Victoria zone and came out from behind the net and with Chapman out of position fired a shot that beat the Grizzlies goalie and was going in until defenceman Carter Berger swatted it away with the palm of his glove.
Williams is yet another product of the Burnaby Winter Club the Spruce Kings have latched onto. He played this season in the Canadian Sports School Hockey League for the BWC midget prep team and was also part of Team B.C. at the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer. He's been practicing with the Kings for two weeks. Williams, who turns 16 on April 22 is already committed to the University of Michigan starting in 2022.
The series resumes with Game 2 tonight (7 p.m.) at RMCA. A sellout crowd
is expected. Victoria will host Game 3 and 4 Monday and Tuesday. If Game 5 is needed that would be played Thursday in Prince George, with if necessary games to follow Saturday in Victoria and Monday, April 8 in Prince George.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Interior Conference semifinal between the Wenatchee Wild and Vernon Vipers opens tonight in Wenatchee... The Surrey Eagles have hired Cam Keith as their new head coach ad associate general manager. Keith was the associate coach and associate general manager of the Chilliwack Chiefs this season.
