Aaron Trotter had the Medusa touch working for him and gave the Merritt Centennials a blank stare.
The 19-year-old Prince George Spruce Kings goaltender stoned the Cents with a 20-save shutout which led to a 2-0 victory Saturday in the B.C. Hockey League pod in Chilliwack.
Andrew Seaman and Nick Rheaume provided the offensive spice the Spruce Kings needed to lock up their third win five games since the pandemic-shortened BCHL began. They improved to 3-2 with all of their wins so far coming at the expense of the Centennials, whose record dropped to 1-4.
Seaman collected his team-leading fifth goal of the season when he intercepted the puck in the Kings’ end and took off on a breakaway, finishing with a move to slide the puck under the pad of goalie Josh Dias, with 5:19 gone in the game.
Rheaume picked up his first BCHL goal four minutes into the third period when he captured the carom of a shot from linemate Rowan Miller which went wide and bounced off the end boards. Rheaume found a sliver of net showing behind Dias and scored from a sharp angle.
The Spruce Kings drew momentum off their power play, which was unable to connect in five chances during the game, and they ended up outshooting the Cents 36-20.
Trotter made two big saves in rapid succession to keep his shutout intact midway through the second period when Jake McLean, the Cents’ scoring leader, stripped the puck away while killing a penalty to Brandon Dent. Then with two seconds left and the Merritt net empty, Jerzy Orchard rang the crossbar behind Trotter with a shot from the slot.
The Spruce Kings will be back on the ice at Chilliwack Coliseum Monday (5 p.m.) to take on the Chilliwack Chiefs.
