Forty shots from the Spruce Kings and a goal from Preston Brodziak was not enough as Prince George fell to the Vernon Vipers 2-1 in a shootout on a Wednesday night at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
The Kings outshot the Vipers 13-6 in the first period of the B.C. Hockey League contest, but could not get one past Vipers goaltender Riley Herbst.
Vernon got on the scoresheet first when, just over two minutes into the second, Matt Kowalski was busting down the wing and ripped the puck top corner on Jett Alexander to give the Vipers an early second period lead.
The Vipers leveled 15 shots at Alexander during the second, compared to five for the Kings on Herbst.
Brodziak tied it up in the third when he fired a seeing-eye shot just inside the blue line that appeared to go off a body and into the top corner past Herbst.
Prince George dominated the final frame, limiting the Vipers to just four shots while firing 11 on the Vernon net but Herbst continued to be unbeatable.
In overtime, the Spruce Kings continued to pour it on but Herbst kept the door shut. Among his stops was a paddle save on a Nick Poisson one timer on a feed from Andrew Seaman during a two-on-one rush.
Vernon's Cam MacDonald was the lone goal scorer in the shootout .
The Kings sit in third place in the Mainland division with a record of eight wins, 11 losses, two overtime losses and three overtime loses, good enough for 21 points - eight behind second-place Chilliwack.
Next up for the Spruce Kings are the Cowichan Valley Capitals tonight at RMCA, 7 p.m. start. Saturday marks the return of Brandon West, the Prince George born-and-raised head coach of the West Kelowna Warriors. The Warriors, led by Prince George minor hocley graduate Brandon Dent, face off against the Spruce Kings Saturday at 7 p.m.
