Game Recap vs Victoria Grizzlies Sept 27th

VS
1                                            Final Score                               2 (2nd OT)
Hoffman	Goal Scorers	Brayden Gelsinger, Kevin Massey
27	Total Shots	36
5	1st Period Shots	10
9	2nd Period Shots	9
10	3rd Period Shots	8
3	Overtime Shots	9
0 for 2	Power Play	1 for 3
Mitchel Benson	3rd Star
	2nd Star	Liam McCloskey
Brayden Gelsinger	1st Star
1-4-0-1	Current Record	1-5-0-0

Every team in the BCHL now has a win. Price George was just hoping that they wouldn’t be the team to allow Victoria to join the club. After picking up their first win of the season on Saturday with a 6-3 blowout over Trail, the Spruce Kings would fall 2-1 in double overtime to the Victoria Grizzlies.

The game wasn’t the cleanest, with both teams giving up some sloppy giveaways. Prince George had a flat first period, and only managed five shots on Mitchel Benson. Things looked to be heading in a similar direction as the Langley game when they only directed ten shots on net the entire game. On their first power play of the game in the first, Victoria scored to take the first lead of the game. Kevin Massey skated down to the top of the circle, and sent a cross ice feed over to the awaiting Brayden Gelsinger who blasted home his first goal of the season. With five assists coming into the game, Gelsinger increased his team lead in points to six.

In the second period, the Spruce Kings had a pair of power plays that overlapped for 30 seconds of five-on-three hockey. The team couldn’t convert though, and has now only scored one power play goal on 31 opportunities. To close out the third, Gelsinger went down hard on the ice, and stay down for a few seconds while he hobbled to the bench on his own power.

He would be okay though, and return to open the third period. The final frame brought more tempo, as Prince George pressed for the equalizer. Jake LeBrun would eventually break down the right down, and get dragged down. Before Victoria could touch the puck though Corey Hoffman skated in, and tapped home the puck for his second goal of the season. He is now tied for the team lead in goals with Connor Logan, and LeBrun.

King’s Man:

In a game where the Spruce Kings only managed three shots over nine minutes in overtime, Liam McCloskey was tremendous in net. Starting his first game since the pair against the Wenatchee Wild, McCloskey stopped 34 of 36 shots. That included a number of big time saves in extra innings. He stopped the captain of the Grizzlies PJ Conlon on a breakaway, slide across to stop a three-on-one, and robbed a sure goal with a stretching glove save.

Liam McCloskey, photo by Garrett James Photography

Special Teams:

The Spruce Kings had another frustrating night on special teams. They only killed off two of three penalties for the 66% success rate. The power play only had two opportunities to work with, but that did include a brief stint of five-on-three play. For this team to become more successful the man advantage is going to need to start clicking. It can’t even be blamed on bad luck, as there have been very few cases this year where Prince George has even been able to command the play in an opponent’s zone for any period of time while up a man. In fact, with one shorthanded goal against them, the team has as many goals scored against them while on the power play, as they do actual power play goals.

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

1-0 Victoria Grizzlies at 6:13 (PP) - Brayden Gelsinger from Kevin Massy and Cole Pickup

PERIOD 2

No Scoring

PERIOD 3

1-1 Prince George Spruce Kings at 15:25 - Corey Hoffman from Jake LeBrun and Rider Stoglin

OVERTIME PERIOD 2

2-1 Victoria Grizzlies at 4:02 - Kevin Massy from Cole Pickup

Game Preview VS Victoria Grizzlies

VS
1-4-0-0	Record	0-5-0-0
0-2-0-0	Last seasons’s Matchup	2-0-0-0
8	Goals For	6
25	Goals Against	18
1 for 29 (3.45%)	Power Play	2 for 19 (10.53%)
22 of 32 killed (68.75%)	Penalty Kill	13 of 14 killed (92.86%)

Venue: Prospera Centre

Game Time: 1pm

Season Series: N/A

Victoria Home Record: 0-0-0-0

Grizzlies Leading Scorer: 

Prince George Road Record: 0-2-0-0

Spruce Kings Leading Scorer: LeBrun, Hoffman, Epp, Stoley, Logan (2 points each)

Player to watch:

Spruce Kings:

Being raised in Victoria, this will be a match up for Nick Guerra against his hometown team. Guerra has been one of the most responsible players for Prince George this season, and has had added duties placed in his shoulder. Last night he was one of the leaders for ice time, as he played on both special teams units, and was especially effective on the penalty kill. He picked up his first point of the season last night on an assist to Kyle Johnson’s first BCHL goal.

Victoria:

With his ex-team mate getting his first BCHL goal last night, look for Tyler Welsh to have a big game and match up with Connor Logan. The two won the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League championship last year with the Campbell River Storm. In four games so far this season Welsh has been held pointless, but with his buddy getting a game winner against the Smoke Eaters, Welsh will certainly get an earful from Logan if he can’t put any points up against the Spruce Kings.

Pictured Jake LeBrun had a goal last night against the Smoke Eaters.
(Photo By: Garrett James Photography)

Coming In

Entering yesterday’s games, neither the Spruce Kings nor the Grizzlies had a win on the season. Prince George would end that streak with a 6-3 win over Trail, while Victoria kept the goose egg dropping a 4-0 decision to the Chilliwack Chiefs.

Prince George only had 2 goals entering the game, but they would score twice in the second period, and four times in the third to open the floodgates. A number of players recorded their first BCHL points/goals, so it was an exciting night for the team. Coming back from the game the team was very excited about picking up their first victory, but entering the game they know how hungry Victoria will be for a win being in the same position themselves yesterday. While Prince George did pick up the win, special teams were once again a point of focus. The penalty kill went two for three, and the power play continued their struggles failing to convert on five opportunities. The team was lucky that didn’t cost them, but they need to be able to capitalize on their man advantages, as Trail scored their first goal of the game right after gaining momentum off a successful penalty kill.

Victoria enters the game in the same position PG was in yesterday. Now the only winless team in the league, the Grizzlies are going to come out firing. The BCHL showcase is the best opportunity for players to show what they’ve got, and getting shutout 4-0 last night couldn’t mean a good showing for the players. Today could mark the last chance for anyone on the team to shine, so between that, and looking for their first win look for a strong effort from Victoria. They are a very disciplined team, and have only had 14 penalty kills all season long compared to the 29 the Spruce Kings have had to try and fend off.

Victoria Penalty Kill

The Spruce Kings enter the game with the worst power play in league, and it won’t help that Victoria has the number one penalty. What doesn’t hurt is the fact the team has also taken the fewest penalties in the league, only having 14 penalties to kill off (they have killed off 13). They are also tied for most shorthanded goals allowed, so the Spruce Kings may be able to manage their first shorty of the season.

Broadcast Info: For all games, you can listen to the action on Mixlr

 or watch live at BCHL FASTHockey

Game Recap VS Trail Smoke Eaters September 26th

VS
6                                   Final Score                                       3
Jake LeBrun, Kyle Johnson, Braiden Epp, Connor Logan, Stephen Penner, Cavin Tilsley	Goal Scorers	Harlan Orr, Rhett Willcox, Kienan Scott
35	Total Shots	37
9	1st Period Shots	14
15	2nd Period Shots	11
11	3rd Period Shots	12
0 for 5	Power Play	1 for 3
Connor Logan	3rd Star
	2nd Star	Evan MacEachern
Jake LeBrun	1st Star
1-4-0-0	Current Record	2-3-0-0

Something clicked offensively. Coming into the game Prince George had a total of two goals after four games. Against the Trail Smoke Eaters they would erupt for six in the game, including four in the third period alone.

The first two periods were great hockey, and back and forth the entire way with Trail never trailing until there was a 1:51 left on the clock in the third.

The Smoke Eaters jumped out to a one goal lead in the first thanks to a goal from Harlan Orr. Right after they killed off a penalty kill, Trail jumped up on the offensive, and managed an odd man rush. Nick Halloran slid the puck across to Orr, and he knocked it home for his second goal of the season.

The Spruce Kings entered the first intermission trailing, but that didn’t last long. Just over a minute into the second, Jake LeBrun had plenty of space in the left faceoff circle, and he fired one right over the shoulder of Bailey MacBurnie. That tied the game at one, but Trail would retake the lead a few minutes later when they capitalzed on their first power play of the game. Entering the game with the second worst power play in the league the Smoke Eaters did a great job of moving the puck around, and Rhett Wilcox scored to bring his goal total to three goals, in just his second match of the year. Before the period ended though, Alex Stoley took a shot from the slot that Nick Guerra got a rebound opportunity on, and then Kyle Johnson would slide it home to pick up his first BCHL goal.

In the third, Kienan Scott picked up a quick goal for Trail, but Braiden Epp answered right back with a perfect tip past MacBurnie to tie the game at three. That’s where things stood for the next 15 minutes until Connor Logan made a great play at the Smoke Eaters’ blue line. He took the puck right off a Trail player, and skated in uncontested before he fired a wrister home for his first BCHL goal. Trail would pull the goalie, and then Stephen Penner banked one off the side boards, and had it roll into the net for his first of the season.  With seconds remaining, Logan skated in again on a two-on-one, and took another shot that Cavin Tilsley just got a tip on to go in with 1.9 seconds left.

Sam Tanguay played yet another brilliant game, stopping 34 of 37 shots. He made a number of goal mouth saves, including one mad scramble in front of the net where the puck was loose for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity for the Spruce Kings. Tanguay was given the hard hat player of the game award.

Photo by: Garrett James Photography

Game of Firsts

With the Spruce Kings finally exploding offensively, a number of players recorded their first points/goals today.

First BCHL Points – Parker Colley, Adam Brubacher, and Adam Burnett

First BCHL Goals – Kyle Johnson, Connor Logan, and Cavin Tilsley.

First BCHL Win – Sam Tanguay

Resiliency

The Spruce Kings led in the game for a total of 1:51. Time and time again they would tie the score only to see Trail go back ahead. The team never gave up though, and continued to battle back.

Team First

“I don’t really care; the team won.” That’s what Cavin Tilsley said after he wasn’t credited with his first BCHL goal. He was happy to score, but getting his named announced wasn’t as important as the team getting their first win of the season. That’s one heck of a player, and the exact type of player that the Spruce Kings want going forward.

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

1-0 Trail Smoke Eaters at 11:19 - Harlan Orr from Nick Halloran

PERIOD 2

1-1 Prince George Spruce Kings at 1:03 - Jake LeBrun from Parker Colley and Adam Brubacher

2-1 Trail Smoke Eaters at 7:33 (PP) - Rhett Willcox from Ryan Swanson and Kienan Scott

2-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 14:02 - Kyle Johnson from Nick Guerra and Alex Stoley

PERIOD 3

3-2 Trail Smoke Eaters at 3:27 - Kienan Scott from Evan MacEachern and Connor Brown-Maloski

3-3 Prince George Spruce Kings at 4:37 - Braiden Epp from Adam Burnett

4-3 Prince George Spruce Kings at 18:09 - Connor Logan (unassisted)

5-3 Prince George Spruce Kings at 19:20 (EN)- Stephen Penner (unassisted)

6-3 Prince George Spruce Kings at 19:58 – Cavin Tilsley from Connor Logan