The dreaded shootout continues to be a thorn in the side of the Prince George Spruce Kings.
Twice in their most recent BCHL road trip, a three-game set with the Trail Smoke Eaters, they came out on the short of the stick and lost the shootout.
It happened again Friday with the Vernon Vipers in town. The Vipers have found a winning formula in shootouts and went back to it again, utilizing the finishing talent of Zack Tonelli and Cam MacDonald to give them the edge needed in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Spruce Kings.
Tonelli’s head fake got Jordan Fairlie leaning and the 18-year-old winger shot found some daylight between the goalie’s legs. Luc Laylin’s patient move to outwait Vernon goalie Roan Clarke on a sharp-angle shot evened the count, but MacDonald tucked his shot into the left side of the net behind Fairlie to put the Vipers in the driver’s seat. The Vernon celebration was on when Rowan Miller was stuffed on his shootout attempt.
Vipers head coach and general manager Jason McGee didn’t hesitate to send Tonelli and MacDonald over the boards as his first two shooters. They each came into the game having fired shootout daggers in the Vipers’ two previous shootout wins, Tuesday in Merritt and Jan. 19 at home to Trail.
“That’s my go-to move to try to freeze the goalie and put it 5-hole and that’s just the way it went,” said Tonelli, a Brown University recruit for next season. “We do a lot of shootouts in practice so I get to work on it a lot, at least twice a week. I’m just happy we won our last three shootouts because we lost a bunch at the beginning of the year, so I feel we’re just getting it back.
“Me and MacDonald have scored in the last three and it’s huge getting that extra point. We’re starting to play better hockey right now. We struggled a bit in the beginning of the year but we’re really coming together now.”
The Vipers (12-14-3-3-0) have now won five straight. The Spruce Kings (19-9-2-4-0) haven’t lost in regulation time in their last 11 games coming out of the Christmas break. In the five games this season between Vernon and Prince George, all but one has been decided by one goal.
“They kind of play like us, they’re well structured, it’s whoever is the best for longest and we were that team tonight,” said Tonelli, who grew up in Westchester County, N.Y. and whose father John played 1,028 games over 14 seasons as an NHL left winger.
Down by a goal and needing a with less than eight minutes in the third period, the Kings got what they were after. Laylin fed the puck ahead to Nick Rheaume and he busted into the zone at drag-racing speed down the left side and chipped a perfect pass to Rowan Miller, who flicked a shot in under the water battle behind goalie Roan Clarke.
The Vipers came on strong in the second period and were rewarded with a pair of goal, 2:29 apart. Off a face-off win in the Kings’ end, Luke Pakulak stretched out to get his stick blade on a pass into the slot. He slid the puck under a diving Fairlie before the six-foot-two goalie could get his lanky frame down on the ice to swallow the shot and that tied it up 1-1.
A shot from defenceman Ayden Third that got partially blocked in the slot led to the go-ahead goal for Vernon. Seiya Tanaka-Campbell followed up on the loose puck in front and the puck kicked up high and dropped into the danger zone in front of Fairlie for Matthew Culling, who chipped in a fluttering shot.
“I thought our first period we came out strong and had the lead and were all over them but in the second period we just didn’t bring our game and let the have all the momentum and they got two goals out of it,” said Kings defenceman Colton Cameron.
“Instead of leading in the third, we were trailing and that’s not a position you want to be in. But we got the goal and got one point. Shootouts aren’t fun for us (they’ve lost four of five this season). Hopefully we can put ourselves in a better position next game.”
The Kings vaunted power play, which was among the best in the league a few weeks ago has since dropped to fifth (26.4 per cent), and it struggled Friday, ineffective on three opportunities.
“They were awful, our passing was brutal from our top players,” said Kings head coach Alex Evin. “They have a good team. They defend really well, they block shots and they’re not easy to play against. I didn’t think we acquired the puck very well and we didn’t hang on to it. We were probably a little more one-and-done than we should have been.”
The Vipers protected their lead well with a commitment to tight defensive hockey and did not allow a shot on goal through the first nine minutes of the third period.
The Kings got their offence untracked early but were unable to sustain it. Pointman Amran Bhabra let go a shot from the blueline and the rebound kicked off goalie Clarke out to a waiting Kolton Cousins, and the Kings captain tucked it into the net for his 13th of the season.
The same teams meet again Saturday at RMCA.
LOOSE PUCKS: Two Kings players have committed to NCAA college teams in the past month. Goalie Aaron Trotter, 20, inked a scholarship deal with the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Cameron, 19, signed two weeks ago with Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., for the 2023-24 season. Five other Spruce Kings have the college futures locked up, including D Nick Marciano (Princeton University), RW Luc Laylin (University of St. Thomas), RW Nick Rheaume (U-Mass Lowell), C John Herrington (Lake Superior State University) and LW Simon Labelle (Colgate University).
Friday BCHL summary
Vipers 3 at Spruce Kings 2 (SO)
First Period
1. Prince George, Cousins 13 (Bhabra, Herrington) 9:43
Penalties – Culling Ver (hooking) 11:44, Pakulak Ver (roughing) 16:20.
Second Period
2. Vernon, Pakulak 6 (Laverty, J.Tanaka-Campbell) 8:29
3. Vernon, Culling 7 (Third, S.Tanaka-Campbell) 11:14
Penalties – Culling Ver (slashing) 8:45.
Third Period
4. Prince George, Miller 16 (Rheaume, Laylin) 12:52
Penalties – None.
Overtime
No scoring
Penalties – None.
Shootout
Vernon – Zack Tonelli – scored; Cam MacDonald, scored.
Prince George – John Herrington, missed; Luc Laylin, scored; Rowan Miller, missed.
Shots on goal by
Vernon 5 9 6 2 -22
Prince George 13 8 6 1 -28
Goal-Vernon, Clarke (W,8-10-0); Prince George, Fairlie (L,7-2-0-3).
Power plays – Ver: 0-0; PG 0-3.
Referees – Jake Podann, Ryan Devries; Linesmen – Blair Scott; Rob Connelly.
Attendance – 1,000.
