Recap vs Penticton Vees

VS
2                                          Final Score                                        5
Brubacher (2)	Goal Scorers	Fabbro, Bowen (2), Lavallee, Brar
24	Total Shots	37
10	1st Period Shots	11
9	2nd Period Shots	12
5	3rd Period Shots	14
1 for 6 (16.7%)	Power Play	1 for 5 (20%)
	3rd Star	Dante Fabbro
Adam Brubacher	2nd Star
	1st Star	Dixon Bowen
1-6-0-1	Current Record	7-1-0-0

For the second night in a row, the Prince George Spruce Kings lost 5-2. Friday night it was against the Cowichan Valley Capitals, and Saturday it was at the hands of the power house Penticton Vees.

The visiting team got on the board early, as a point shot from Dante Fabbro beat Sam Tanguay with a point shot. That lead didn’t last long though, as a blast from Adam Brubacher tied the game just two minutes later. The two teams went to the intermission tied at one, and the home team was very happy with their start.

In the second though, the Vees got rid of the bus legs, and rallied for three goals in four minutes. Dixon Bowen started the push, Jason Lavallee scored his first BCHL goal, and Bowen scored his second in the period after being sprung on a breakaway from Fabbro. Just over two minutes later Prince George went to the power play, which has struggled this year, but for the second game in a row they scored on the man advantage, as Brubacher unleased another bomb for his second goal of the game.

That was as close as the Spruce Kings would get though, as the rookie Banjamin Brar scored his first BCHL goal to seal the game at 5-2.

Turning Point:

In the second period, the Vees scored three goals in less than four minutes to take a three goal lead in the game that the Spruce Kings couldn’t recover from.

Jost Shut Down

Tyson Jost entered the game with 16 points in his last six games, but the Spruce Kings put an end to that streak as he was held off the scoresheet outside of a late penalty he took. One of the reasons for that was the excellent play of Cavin Tilsley. Right from the opening faceoff Tilsley was matched up against the future NHL draft pick, and was giving him some knocks with his stick off the opening draw. Jost was one of those players where every time he had the puck in the offense zone you held your breath, but overall Tilsley and the Spruce Kings did an excellent job of shutting him down.

Dante Keeps Buzzing

After a pair of points in the previous game against the Merritt Centennials, Dante Fabbro once again flexed his offensive muscles. It started with the opening goal, and he added two assists to make him the highest scoring player of the match. In the second intermission assistant coach Steve Cawley said he was highly impressed with the defencemen considering he was nursing a leg that had taken a number of blocked shots in the same spot the night before. As the other possible 1^st round NHL draft pick, Fabbro showed that he only needs one good leg to make a difference.

Games Ahead

The next two weeks aren’t going to the easy for the Spruce Kings, as they head off on a pair of road trips. Both will be to the interior, and in the two weeks, they’ll play all of their away games against that division. Next weekend will be Trail on Friday, Vernon on Saturday, and Salmon Arm on Sunday. The trip after will be against Merritt Thursday, Penticton on Friday, and close it out against West Kelowna on the 17^th. Following that Prince George will get a home stand, as they play Coquitlam twice the first weekend back, and then a pair of games against the Wenatchee Wild in the last weekend of October.

Current Standings

With the win, Penticton remains tied for first in the BCHL with fourteen points after Powell River also beat Alberni Valley 5-1. The loss put the Spruce Kings back, as three other Mainland Division teams picked up points. Langley and Chilliwack went to overtime with Langley eventually winning on a goal from Matty Saharchuk. The Coquitlam Express tied Cowichan Valley 3-3, and the Wenatchee Wild lost their first game of the season 4-2 against the West Kelowna Warriors.

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

1-0 Penticton Vees at 1:04 - Dante Fabbro from Owen Sillinger

1-1 Prince George Spruce Kings at 3:03 - Adam Brubacher from Rylan Bechtel and Connor Logan

PERIOD 2

2-1 Penticton Vees at 9:49 (PP) - Dixon Bowen from Dante Fabbro and Scott Conway

3-1 Penticton Vees at 13:25 - Jason Lavallee (unassisted)

4-1 Penticton Vees at 13:50 - Dixon Bowen from Dante Fabbro and Colton Poolman

4-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 16:19 (PP) - Adam Brubacher from Rylan Bechtel

PERIOD 3

5-2 Penticton Vees at 12:53 - Benjamin Brar from Easton Brodzinski

Game Preview vs Penticton Vees

VS
1-5-0-1	Record	6-1-0-0
11	Goals For	27
32	Goals Against	12
2 for 34	Power Play	10 for 36
25 of 38 killed	Penalty Kill	26 of 29 killed

Venue: The Coliseum

Game Time: 7pm

Last Year’s Matchup: Penticton won both games, one in overtime.

Season Series:  N/A

Prince George Home Record: 1-2-0-0

Spruce Kings Leading Scorer: Corey Hoffman (two goals, two assists)

Penticton Road Record: 3-1-0-0

Vees Leading Scorer: Tyson Jost (5 goals, 11 assists, 16 points) tied for 1^st in BCHL

Player to watch:

Spruce Kings:

Bryan Basilico – FW: The big power forward made a good impression for his new team, scoring a goal on the power play in his first game of the season. Basilico was acquired from the Trail Smoke Eaters just before the BCHL showcase, and didn’t have time to make it, but as he’s already committed to Lake Superior State University missing the showcase wasn’t the end of the world for the twenty year old.

Matthew Stief – D: After 33 points in 58 games with Prince George last year, Stief went down to Waterloo, and had a brief stint playing with the Black Hawks. He is back with the team now though, and will be a welcome addition to the backline. Unlike when Bechtel joined the team, Stief has been playing the last month, so he should already be in game shape for tonight.

Vees:

Tyson Jost- FW: Last night against the Merritt Centennials Jost had a goal and four assists to give him 16 points on the year good for first in the BCHL alongside Sheldon Rempal of the Nanaimo Clippers. Since he was held scoreless in his first game, that means all 16 of those points have come in the last six games, for a 2.7 points per game average.

Dante Fabbro- D: In seven games this season, the Whistler native is also a point per game player with nine points in seven games. Last night against the Centennials he had a goal and an assist. Like Jost, he is number one in scoring for defencemen, and is again tied with a Nanaimo Clipper as both he and Yanni Kaldis have nine points, but Fabbro has a game in hand.

In the Standings:

In the mainland division, the Spruce Kings currently sit in fifth place, five points behind Coquitlam, Chilliwack, and Langley. They have two games in hand on all those teams, and have one in hand against Surrey who is just one point behind them. With Wenatchee already looking like the Penticton of the Interior division (guaranteed top spot) it will be the other five teams battling it out for the final three playoff spots.

Speaking of Penticton, they sit first not just in their division, but the entire BCHL. They are tied with Powell River with for 12 points, but have a game in hand on them. Wenatchee is just one point back of Penticton, and have a game in hand over Vees.

Limit the Damage:

A betting man would put money on Fabbro and Jost putting points on the board tonight. The Spruce Kings will do their best to shut down the two players, but it’s not like other teams haven’t been doing that already this season. Prince George needs to make sure that they at least limit the chances for both players. The pair are big and fast, so that is going to be a very difficult job for whoever is tasked with looking after them all night.

Keep the Chemistry Brewing

With a lot of new faces in the lineup, the Spruce Kings haven’t had a lot of time to gel as a team, but hopefully there won’t be changes for a while, so the team can now settle down. Stief will be added into the lineup tonight, and that should help add some defensive depth for the team who will definitely need it against the Vees. Basilico and Hovde each have a game of experience under their belts with the team now, so look for them to improve once again.

Avoid the Box like the Plague

Prince George has struggled on the penalty kill this season, and if they send a march of players to the box, that coud spell an early night for the team. Penticton enters with the third best power play in the league, and it’s no wonder why with their arsenal of weapons. There are usually at least a few penalties to each team in a game, but the Spruce Kings just have to make sure they don’t take an foolish penalties, because the Vees won’t hesitate to pounce on opportunities. Earlier in the year, the team had a 6-2 lead over Surrey late in the third, and continued to send out their top unit looking to rack up the points.

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

 or watch live at BCHL FASTHockey. For tonight’s action, you can also tune into 99.3 The Drive.