Wenatchee Falls

VS
3                                          Final Score                                        2
Basilico, Brubacher, Raposo	Goal Scorers	Raabe, Drabin
17	Total Shots	29
6	1st Period Shots	5
4	2nd Period Shots	12
7	3rd Period Shots	12
0 for 0	Power Play	0 for 0
Adam Burnett	3rd Star
Dante Raposo	2nd Star
Sam Tanguay	1st Star
5-12-0-1	Current Record	11-5-2-1

From start to finish it was thrilling.

Sam Tanguay played his best game as a Spruce King, and Dante Raposo a callup from the Kamloops Storm scored a highlight reel goal that turned out to be the game winner against the Wenatchee Wild.

As the shots total above shows, Prince George certainly didn’t dominate the play, but found a way to cash in when needed which wasn’t the case the night before. It started out with Stief and Brubacher taking bombs from the point, and eventually a rebound popped out that Bryan Basilico knocked in for his first even strength goal of the season. That broke the nearly nine period shutout streak that Chase Perry was carrying against the Spruce Kings.

Shortly in the second, the Wild answered right back as Bryon Yoon passed the puck to Mike Coyne who made a nifty no look pass to Dakota Raabe who scored his fifth goal of the season against Prince George. A minute later though it was Brubacher who had the puck at the blueline, decked past the on rushing attacker, and rode in for a shot to beat Perry and retake the lead.

The Spruce Kings seemed to hold onto that lead for dear life, and would take it into the third period courtesy of Tanguay’s stellar netminding.

The ex-OHLer wasn’t done there though, as in the third he made a diving glove save to keep his team up by one, and shortly after made a pair of big glove saves. Right after snaring one in the leather and holding on for a faceoff, Wenatchee would strike back.

Of the draw the Wild had Tanguay sliding one way, so he couldn’t get back to the other side in time, and Joseph Drabin banked it off the back of his pad and in.

Moments later something miraculous happened.

Going down the left side Dante Raposo was one-on-one with the Wild defender. The callup forward easily could have dumped the puck and chased after it, but decided to poke the puck through the legs of the blueliner, and spin right around him. He got the puck back, and rifled it past the glove of Perry to turn The Coliseum into a madhouse on the eve of Halloween.

Wenatchee would press late again looking to tie the game, but once again Tanguay came up big stopping everything else he faced to preserve the 3-2 win.

The Spruce Kings will head out on a roadtrip to the island next weekend, where they’ll be in Powell River, Alberni Valley, and Victoria.

Game Notes:

The Spruce Kings are undefeated (3-0) when leading after two periods of play. It was the teams first win against the Wild since they joined the BCHL this year. Wenatchee suffered just their third divisional loss after dropping games to Langley and Chilliwack.

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

1-0 Prince George Spruce Kings at 18:07 - Bryan Basilico from Matthew Stief and Adam Brubacher

PERIOD 2

1-1 Wenatchee Wild at 2:22 - Dakota Raabe from Mike Coyne and Bryon Yoon

2-1 Prince George Spruce Kings at 3:20 - Adam Brubacher from Connor Logan and Parker Colley

PERIOD 3

2-2 Wenatchee Wild at 11:56 - Joseph Drabin from Troy Conzo

3-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 15:35 - Dante Raposo from Matthew Stief

4th Time Lucky?

VS
4-12-0-1	Record	11-4-2-1
35 (17th)	Goals For	67 (T-2nd)
71 (15th)	Goals Against	42 (3rd)
17.81% (11th)	Power Play	18.27% (9th)
74.39% (16th)	Penalty Kill	86.67% (2nd)

Venue: The Coliseum

Game Time: 7pm

Season Series: 3-0 in favour of the Wild. Wins 5-1, 8-0, and 3-0.

 Game Preview: 

In the second game in two nights against the Wild, the Spruce Kings are still searching for their first win against the American team after losing the first two games of the season to Wenatchee. Last night was as close a game as Prince George has had, but only mustered up six shots combined in the final two periods. Chase Perry has been a wall in net this year against the Spruce Kings, and hasn't allowed a goal in the last eight periods. The only goal he let in was a centring pass that went in off a rebound. The positive last night for the Spruce Kings was their penalty kill, as they held the Wild off on five occasions. 

Prince George Home Record: 2-6-0-0

Spruce Kings Leading Scorer: Corey Hoffman, 6 goals, 10 assists, 16 points

Wenatchee Road Record: 7-3-1-1

Wild Leading Scorer: Mike Coyne, 3 goals, 16 assists, 19points

Player to watch:

Spruce Kings:

Jake LeBrun – FW: Last night was a strong one for LeBrun. He had a number of good offensive breaks, but couldn’t beat Perry. His best came on a burst down the left side when he cut to the net, and tried to go five hole on Perry, but couldn’t quite pot it home.

Sam Tanguay – G: Tanguay will be following up arguably his best performance with the Spruce Kings. He made a number of highlight saves, and only allowed two goals, as the third was an empty netter.

Wild:

Bryon Yoon- D: Munching a lot of minutes last night, Yoon showed no signs of bus legs. Right off the start he was making crisp passes, and getting into it with Spruce Kings players when they came after him on the forecheck. He played a lot of minutes, and had an assist in the game for his efforts.

Dakota Raabe- FW: With a goal last night, Raabe now has four goals in three games against Prince George, and five points in total. He was an offensive threat all last night, and will look to do the same tonight.

In the Standings:

With the win last night, the Wild move four points ahead of Langley for first in the Mainland division. All teams in the division will be in action tonight, as the Rivermen play host to the Express, and the Chiefs play the Surrey Eagles. The Spruce Kings are precariously sitting on the 5^th position, one point ahead of Surrey, and looking to start gaining ground on Coquitlam who hold eight points over the Spruce Kings.

Special Teams Battle:

Last night it was a stalemate for special teams. Wenatchee went 0 for 5, and the Spruce Kings were 0 for 2, although it seemed like every single power play was interrupted by another penalty making it four-on-four. The Spruce Kings have just two even strength goals in their last 4 games.

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

 or watch live at BCHL FASTHockey

Wild Back In Town

VS
4-11-0-1	Record	10-4-2-1
35 (16th)	Goals For	64 (3rd)
68 (15th)	Goals Against	42 (5th)
18.31% (10th)	Power Play	19.19% (8th)
72.73% (16th)	Penalty Kill	86.30% (2nd)

Venue: The Coliseum

Game Time: 7pm

Season Series: Wenatchee have won both matchups, outscoring the Spruce Kings 13-1

 Game Overview:

The Prince George Spruce Kings have gotten off to a rough start this season, and it started in a pair of losses to Wenatchee to open the season. They lost 5-1 the first night, and then 8-0 the second time around after Liam McCloskey was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots. The Spruce Kings faces are very different this time around though. After a number of trades to start the season, the team has four new players playing a regular roll on the team. Gone since then are Frankie Sullivan, Luc Soares, Cole Todd, Oliver Trachsel, and Alex Brooks-Potts. The Wild are still an elite team in this league, and the Spruce Kings will have to be on their toes, but the scores will hopefully be closer than the last time around. 

Prince George Home Record: 2-5-0-1 (1-5-0-1 at the Coliseum)

Spruce Kings Leading Scorer: Corey Hoffman 6 goals, 10 assists, 16pts, 8PIM

Wenatchee Road Record: 6-3-1-1

Wild Leading Scorer: Joseph Drabin 8 goals, 10 assists, 18pts, 8PIM

Player to watch:

Spruce Kings:

In the BCHL Showcase, Parker Colley put up three points, all assists. That’s been it for him so far this season though. This past weekend he was put on a line with Jake LeBrun and Bryan Basilico, two twenty year olds who have some size on them. Playing with some older and skilled players should help spark Colley, and get him on the board against the Wild.

In nine games this season, Matt Stief is tied for seventh when it comes to points per game. He has yet to record a goal, but has four assists on the season. Recently promoted to the first unit on defence, Stief has been playing with Adam Brubacher, a high scoring defenseman. It will be interesting to see if Stief’s offensive number get boosted by that, or if he’ll be asked to play a more defensive role incase Brubacher is caught while pinching.

Wild:

Named the player of the week last weekend, Joseph Drabin was a worthy recipient putting up ten points in four games. The Wild had two wins, a tie, and a loss, but in their two wins they put up 17 goals, with Drabin getting nine points in those two games. Last time the Wild played the Spruce Kings, the Rochester NY forward had an assist in the first game and an assist in the second.

In the team’s last meetings they played two games in two nights to open their respective seasons. Of the 13 goals that the Wild scored that weekend, Kyle Stephan was a part of five of them picking up two assists in the first game, and a goal and two more helpers in the second meeting. Stephan currently sits second on the team in scoring, behind only Joseph Drabin.  

In the Standings:

The Wenatchee Wild come into this game in a similar fashion they left Prince George last time. In the two games against the Spruce Kings, the Wild outscored them 13-1, and in their last two games they outscored the Surrey Eagles 15-5. With the two wins, Wenatchee now holds the number one spot in the Mainland Division after going back and forth for a while with the Langley Rivermen. In eight games against Mainland teams this year, the Wild own a 6-2 record, while the Spruce Kings are 1-5. Prince George is 5^th in the division just one point ahead of Surrey, but eight back of the Coquitlam Express who hold the fourth and final playoff spot.

Special Teams Battle:

The Spruce Kings were shutout on the power play in their last game against the Coquitlam Express, but even with that, they are 10 on their last 24 opportunities. The unit started out weakly hovering around 5%, but have jumped up recently, and even made it to 6^th in the BCHL before going 0 for 4 against Coquitlam. The Wild are hot streaks of their own when it comes to special teams. The power play has converted on seven of the last 18 chances, and the PK which is second in the league, has allowed one goal in the past two games.

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

 or watch live at BCHL FASTHockey