Spruce Kings Win Their Fourth Straight

It wasn't their best game of the season, but Prince George did find a way to capitalize on their chances beating Trail for the second straight night. The Spruce Kings actually found themselves down on the score sheet in the 2nd period, but battled back to take the lead and never looked back. Their top line had another stellar game, and Marcus Beesley back stopped them to their 4th straight win. Let's recap tonight's game between the Trail Smoke Eaters, and your Prince George Spruce Kings

The Recap:

The first period saw back and forth action, with both teams getting lots of chances. It became a goaltenders duel and Matt Larose was leading the charge. Larose had to make 13 stops in the 1st period, and 3 of them were quality saves, including a robbery of Paul De Jersey as he stretched out his paddle to get a piece of it. Marcus Beesley made a few nice saves of his own, as neither team was able to find the back of the net. It was obvious from this period of play that the Smokies were out to prove that tonight would be much different than the 8-0 loss the night before

The 2nd period started out great for the Smokies, and they seemed to snatch hold of the momentum as Nicholas Wong fired a shot from the point to open the scoring. It didn't take long though for the Spruce Kings to halt any potential onslaught of the Smoke Eaters as Jujhar Khaira put home a rebound on the power play. His line mates De Jersey and Colantone added the helpers on the tying goal. This goal seemed to wake up the Spruce Kings as Jujhar Khaira scored again 4 minutes later, with Paul De Jersey adding a 3rd goal towards the end of the frame. It was a tough 10 minutes for the Smoke Eaters, as they went from dictating the play, to chasing Prince George around the ice. We went into the break with the Spruce Kings leading 3-1. Matt Larose continued to be the Smokies best player, as had faced 31 shots through 2 periods

The third period was more of the same as the Spruce Kings were getting chances, and capitalizing on them. Sean Landrey scored his second of the season, finding the puck out front of the net as it took a weird bounce off of the boards. Trail would attempt to make a game of it as Clayton Chessa blasted a shot from the point past Beesley. The Smokies would get their fair share of chances, but couldn't bring the game any closer than it was. Paul De Jersey would put the icing on the cake, scoring his second of the game, adding to his league leading scoring totals. The Spruce Kings would finish of the sweep of Trail, tallying their fourth straight win over a division rival. The win moves the Spruce Kings record to 5-3-0-1, good to leap frog them into third in the interior conference division

The Stats Breakdown:

Jujhar Khaira was the Spruce Kings best forward on the night, scoring twice, including the game winner, and racking up an assist. The 3 point night would put Khiara into the 3rd spot of the scoring race. Leading that scoring race is one of his line mates, Paul De Jersey with 22 points in 9 games. De Jersey had 2 goals in the win, which brings his league leading goal total to 14. Michael Colantone continued to rack up points as a Spruce King, recording 4 assists, moving him up form 16th to 6th on the list. Clayton Chessa scored his 7th goal for the Smoke Eaters, bringing his point total to, 7. Marcus Beesley made 22 saves to move his record to 4-1 on the season. Matt Larose was incredible in tonight's loss, making 42 saves, many of them highlight reel.

Check out the official box score here

The Three Stars:

3) (TRA) Matt Larose – 38 Saves

2) (PG) Michael Colantone – 4 Assists

1) (PG) Jujhar Khaira - 2 Goals, 1 Assist

I caught up with Jujhar Khaira after the game to talk about his excellent play as of late, his new line mates and his new look Spruce Kings. I started by asking him about tonight's big win

download audio file

Up Next:

The Spruce Kings will have a couple of days off, and get ready to host the Coquitlam Express at The Coliseum. You can catch that game Thursday night at the Castle, on the BCHL website, or on our ustream channel

The Spruce Kings Dominate the Smokies

Spruce Kings are all smiles after posting an 8-0 win

It was the most complete game of this young season and showed exactly what the Spruce Kings are capable of. Prince George controlled the game tonight, beating out the Smoke Eaters in just about every category, including the most important one - the scoreboard as they took home an 8-0 decision. The best line on the ice tonight was definitely Prince George's first line as they combined for 11 points and 5 of the 8 goals. Marcus Beesley was also a bright spot as he notched his first career shutout of his BCHL career. Let's recap tonight's game between the Spruce kings and the Smoke Eaters

The Recap:

It didn't take long for the Spruce Kings to open up the scoring as Michael Colantone picked up where he left off at the Coliseum, scoring at the 3:30 mark of the 1st to give his team the lead. The next 10 minutes saw both teams generate some scoring chances, but Prince George was still getting the better of Trail, and it continued to pay of at the 16:34 mark as Paul De Jersey added to his league leading goal total by firing one past Reed Vogt. His linemates Michael Colantone and Jujhar Khaira added assists on the goal, helping their team head into the dressing room up by two.

The second period is where the game broke open for the Spruce Kings, with nothing seeming to go wrong. Spencer McHaffie opened up the scoring in the 2nd with the first of his BCHL career. Ben Matthews and Paul De Jersey helped the twin notch his first goal. Prince George would continue to pour it on as Michael Colantone got his second of the game, Michael Klonarakis got his first career BCHL goal and Jujhar Khaira his first of two as the Spruce Kings went into the break up 6-0.

The third saw more of the same as Prince George applied pressure and capitalized on their chances while Marcus Beesley did his part stopping any and all shots thrown his way. Myles Fitzgerald and Jujhar Khaira put the official nails in the coffin as the Spruce Kings took the contest by a score of 8-0. Both goaltenders saw action for the Smokies as Reed Vojt was pulled halfway through the second in favour of Matt Larose. Vojt made 19 saves while Larose posted 11 saves.

The Stats:

Jujhar Khaira had an outstanding game for the Spruce Kings, notching 2 goals while adding a couple of assists. Those 4 points moved him up to 5th in the BCHL scoring race. Paul De Jersey added to his league leading point total scoring once and adding 3 assists. De Jersey continues to sit a top the league in scoring with 19 points. Michael Colantone had another great night for Prince George, scoring twice and grabbing an assist. As listed above, Spencer Mchaffie and Michael Klonarakis got their first goals of their BCHL careers. Congrats to those two men, and here's to many more. Beesley finished the game making 26 saves to post his first ever shutout as a BCHL goaltender. It was also Marcus Beesley's 3rd straight win.

For a full recap of the game and to check the official score sheet, click here

The Three Stars Tonight:

3) (PG) Michael Colantone

2) (PG) Jujhar Khaira

1) (PG) Marcus Beesley

Next Game:

These two teams will do battle once again tomorrow night at the Castle, with the puck dropping at 7pm. If you can't make it down to the Castle tomorrow, you can catch the game a few different ways. The webcast will be available on the BCHL website here, and you can listen to the FREE audio broadcast here. Hope to see you at the rink, or chat with you online.

Until tomorrow Spruce Kings fans.