There’s a reason the West Kelowna Warriors have leapfrogged the Prince George Spruce Kings into third place in the BCHL’s Interior Conference and on Saturday they served up a reminder to their hosts at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
A pair of power-play goals in the second period staked the Warriors to a 2-0 lead and they never looked back, defeating the Spruce Kings 5-1.
First-star Johnny Derrick was nearly perfect while making 29 saves to give the Warriors their fourth consecutive win over Prince George.
Elan Bar-Lev-Wise and Felix Trudeau each took advantage of Spruce Kings penalties and Dylan Brooks added an even-strength goal before the second period ended.
John Evans and Christophe Farmer added to the total in the third period, sandwiched around a goal from Kings forward Nick Rheaume, who spoiled Derrick’s shutout bid with 3:01 left on the clock.
The Kings outshot the Warriors 30-22. Aaron Trotter took the loss in goal for the Kings, who opened the weekend with a 5-1 win over the Vernon Vipers on Friday.
The Warriors improved to 32-16-1-0-0, .663 winning percentage, while the Spruce Kings remained fourth in the Interior (26-15-3-8-0, .606).
Prince George has two games left in the regular season, both on home ice. They’ll host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks next Friday and Saturday. West Kelowna still has five games to play.
The BCHL playoffs start April 1. Spruce Kings playoff tickets are available at their office at RMCA.
