If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
The Prince George Spruce Kings tried, but for the third game in four nights, their attempts to find success against the Wenatchee Wild proved disastrous.
Still smarting from two lopsided home-ice losses to the Wild, in which they were outscored a combined 12-4, the Spruce Kings were shelled 11-2 in front of 841 spectators Saturday night at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
Wild centre Troy Conzo had a five-point night with three goals and two assists, defenceman Slava Demin scored twice and A.J. Vanderbeck finished with a goal and four assists.
“It was a team effort and everyone played hard and I’m just happy to get out of here with six points,” said Conzo, a native of Nesconset, N.Y., now in his third season with the Wild. “We have a very skilled group this year with a lot of guys who can chip in on offence. Anytime you can score 11 goals it’s good for your confidence. The puck was bouncing our way this weekend. We don’t quit. Even though we’re up on the scoreboard we play the same way, setting the standard for how we want to play all year.”
It started badly for the Kings. Lucas Sowder and Conzo found the net behind Stefan Wornig 23 seconds apart and with just 1:23 off the clock the Wild had a 2-0 lead.
“It was not a good start to give up two goals on three shots and overall our group was not ready, not good enough, and I’ll take the blame for that,” said Kings head coach Chad van Diemen, whose team has just one point to show for its first five games, all played on home ice. “We have to do a better job of preparing. All five games we’ve come out and the other team has taken it to us right off the opening face-off. We have to re-evaluate our time once we get to the rink on game day and make a lot of changes.”
Van Diemen gave Wornig the hook after Demin made it 3-0 on a Wild power play, 4:36 into the game. The 19-year-old goalie allowed three goals on just six shots.
Liam McCloskey replaced Wornig and he didn’t last long either. Of the 19 shots McCloskey faced in 27 minutes of game action, Wenatchee scored four more goals, two on power plays. Conzo made it a 7-0 game with his second goal at 10:55 of the second, and less than a minute later, Prince George defenceman Connor Russell cruised in from the point to take a pass in the slot for his first career BCHL goal to get the Kings on the board. Wornig returned to the game at that point, but the shelling continued.
Colin Burston, Trey Bagwell and Charlie Combs made it a 10-1 count – a three-goal, five-shot flurry at Wornig that ate up just 84 seconds.
“They were all over us and we didn’t really stick to our systems, and obviously as a result we lost 11-2,” said Russell, a native of Guelph, Ont., who came to the Kings in an off-season trade from Cowichan Valley. “It didn’t look like anyone really wanted it out there and that’s tough to swallow. You can’t blame any one person, everyone needs to go home and just kind of re-evaluate what’s going on here. We have to be ready to play right from the puck-drop and I think our starts are what’s dragging us down.”
It didn’t help that the Kings lost 20-year-old defenceman Adam Burnett, one of their best blueliners, when he left the game early in the first period nursing a foot injury he suffered blocking a shot in the Kings’ 7-3 loss to the Wild on Friday.
The Kings were outshot 48-27. Anthony Yamnitsky made 25 saves for his first BCHL victory since joining the Wild after playing last year in the North American Hockey League with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights.
Playing with an early lead, the Wild did not let up and Conzo, an 18-year-old UMass recruit, had plenty of fun running up the score. Eleven goals is the most the Washington state-based team has ever scored in two seasons in the BCHL, after six years in the NAHL, and the nine-goal margin of victory also stands as a team high.
“We got a little lucky at the start, the pucks found the back of the net right away and it just kind of snowballed from there,” said coach Bliss Littler. “But I’ve got to give our kids credit, they worked pretty hard and made a lot of plays.
“It’s a hard trip, it’s a long ways away and we’re happy to get all six points. I’m guessing about three weeks from now (when the teams meet again in Wenatchee, Oct. 7-8), this (Spruce Kings) team will gel and turn into a pretty good hockey club. They have a lot of new faces.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Kings this week when they hit the road for games against Merritt on Thursday and Penticton on Friday at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack.
