Spruce Kings Crusader: Recap vs Penticton Vees

2 Final Score 5

Brubacher (2)

Goal Scorers

Fabbro, Bowen (2), Lavallee, Brar

Total Shots

1^st Period Shots

2^nd Period Shots

3^rd Period Shots

1 for 6 (16.7%)

Power Play

1 for 5 (20%)

3^rd Star

Dante Fabbro

Adam Brubacher

2^nd Star

1^st 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