It went from bad, down 3-0 after one period; to worse, trailing 7-2 after 40 minutes; to downright embarrassing for the Prince George Spruce Kings when the shooting finally stopped Wednesday night in Trail.
The Trail Smoke Eaters showed in a 9-2 victory why they are the highest-scoring team in the B.C. Hockey League, handing the Spruce Kings their worst loss of the season.
Kent Johnson, the younger brother of former Spruce King captain Kyle, picked up two goals and an assist to pad his stats atop the BCHL scoring race. The 17-year-old University of Michigan recruit from Port Moody now has 36 goals and 52 points for 88 points in 46 games.
Johnson was hard to handle for the Kings and so were his teammates. Braden Costello had a four-assist night, Jaden Senkoe scored two goals. Only three Smoke Eaters who dressed for Wednesday’s game, not including the goalies, failed to generate at least a point.
The Kings fell behind early on goals from Owen Ozar and defenceman Cody Schiavon, and Johnson’s first of the game late in the first period gave Trail plenty of breathing room heading into the break. Corey Cunningham scored his first of two goals in the game on a wraparound 40 seconds into the second period to give the visitors some life, but it was shortlived. Senkoe, Max Kryski and Johnson made it a 6-2 count before the six-minute mark of the second period. That prompted a goalie switch and Kings coach Alex Evin replaced Jett Alexander, who allowed six goals on 19 shots, with Carter Woodside.
Cunningham connected on a shot from the side of the net for his 20th of the season but the Smokies weren’t quite done and Senkoe scored his second before the intermission and Kyle Budvarson and Walker Erickson finished with goals in the third period.
Trail outshot the Kings 40-35. Logan Terness made 33 saves for his 23rd win of the season. Woodside allowed three goals on 21 shots, with a crowd of 1,709 watching at Cominco Arena.
The loss dropped the Spruce Kings’ fifth-place Mainland Division record to 16-27-2-3-0, with 10 games left in the regular season. Trail (31-14-2-2-1) remained entrenched n second place in the Interior Division, with eight games left to play.
The Spruce Kings, who have lost three straight games, move on to Vernon for a Friday game against the Vipers, then will travel West Kelowna to take on the Warriors Saturday night.
The Kings return to Rolling Mix Concrete Arena next Wednesday when they host the Wenatchee Wild, followed by a Friday home game against the Merritt Centennials.
