Kirk Thompson had the shutout and the Prince George Spruce Kings scored a goal in each period for a 3-0 win Sunday over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
"It's been crazy," said Thompson after posting his first career BCHL shutout about the Kings' four-game win streak. "We've been
rolling over teams."
In the first game between the Silverbacks (6-12-0-5) and Kings (11-8-1-2) at The Coliseum on Saturday the home side earned a 3-2 win. The frantic pace of Sunday's game matched the hyperactive nature of many of the 864 fans in attendance, as it was
elementary school night.
"It was pretty cool," said Thompson. "The atmosphere in the building was great. All the schools were really loud and they came with their noisemakers, screaming at the top of their lungs. It was really good to see and it might've rubbed off on the guys a little bit, because they definitely had a lot of energy out there."
Tyson Witala gave the Kings a 3-0 advantage early in the third period on his fourth goal of the season. Stefan Bazar had the assist. Prince George preserved the goose egg for Thompson in the final two minutes as they wrapped up the game two-men short as tempers flared from the back-to-backs games.
"It seemed like it wasn't going to come easy there, but the PK [penalty kill] played unreal and everything that they threw at me wasn't too hard," said Thompson.
Prince George fired 41 shots on Silverbacks goaltender Adam Clark, while Thompson faced 31 shots. The win ties the Kings with the Chilliwack Chiefs (12-7-0-1) for fourth place in the Interior Conference, with the Chiefs having two games in hand.
Kings' defencemen Ben Matthews picked up his second point of the game, assisting on Myles Fitzgerald's sixth goal of the season to put the home team up 2-0 early in the middle frame. It was the Kings second power-play goal of the game. Ben Woodley also had an assist.
"Just having a full lineup really helps us," said Matthews, 20. The Spruce Kings haven't had a full lineup most of the season due to injuries. The only players missing Sunday were Sean Landrey and Michael Klonarakis.
A feisty first period ended with the Kings up 1-0 on a Matthews' power-play goal, while out shooting the Silverbacks 10-8. Prince George lost Jujhar Khaira early in the period when the forward was charged with a two-minute minor for checking from behind and a game misconduct.
Saturday Paul De Jersey and Jeff Earnest scored to give the Kings a 2-0 lead, but Salmon Arm tied the game at 2-2 before the end of the second period with a power-play goal and a shorthanded marker by Shane Hanna and Brett Knowles. Witala earned his second point of the game when he potted the game winner early in the final period. Bazar also had two helpers.
The Kings are off until Friday when they host the first half of a home-and-home with the Merritt Centennials (11-6-1-4) at the castle at 7 p.m. The teams bus to Merritt after the game for part two of the series Saturday.
