The Prince George Spruce Kings reeled off a pair of hat tricks last night against the Surrey Eagles to take over sole possession of first place in the Mainland Division. Brogan O’Brien was the first to score in the game and would add a second, but it was on three shots in the second period by Brent Lashuk that opened the game up and led to the win.
The first shot was a bullet shot that saw the net bulge but the puck ripped right through the net and bounced off the back wall leaving people scratching their head as the play continued. The play went on for about two minutes before the next stoppage in play allowed the officials to converge and have a conversation on what may have happened.
Lashuk was awarded the goal, the clock was reset and the Spruce Kings forward scored twice more to record a natural hat trick in the game. Justin Rai also scored in the second period and O’Brien completed his hat trick with the only goal of the third period.
Double headers are an interesting thing and tough to claim both halves. The Surrey Eagles for sure will be inspired to take home at least a split in their first trip North and even up the season series again. Right now the Spruce Kings have that one game edge over the Eagles with a record of 2-1-1-0.
Last night started off with an emotional charge after the announcement that four of the recent scratches were back in the lineup. Jesse Jenks was also recognized for his bronze medal win with Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge by the Mayor of Prince George.
Jenks will get the night off after coming up with a solid performance and Alex Murray will get the start tonight. The Spruce Kings are not expected to make any other changes to their lineup while the Surrey Eagles will get back Jonah Renouf after he served his one game suspension last night.
Tonight’s game is one of seven games in the BCHL with only the Vernon Vipers and the Merritt Centennials from the Interior Division being idle. With the race at the top of the standings catching a lot of people’s attention, the Powell River Kings will be looking to repeat against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs while the Langley Rivermen will want to rebound against the visiting Victoria Grizzlies.
The Powell River Kings currently sit in top spot overall with 33 points followed by the Prince George Spruce Kings (32) right behind them. The Langley Rivermen and the Penticton Vees are tied in third place with 31 points each.
Tonight's game has a scheduled start time of 7pm in the Prince George Coliseum. The game will be broadcast live online with a pay-per-option through Fasthockey.com and a free audio only broadcast on the Spruce Kings Mixlr Channel beginning with the pregame show at 6:40pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment