Spruce Kings drop Barn Burner in Overtime
The Prince George Spruce Kings dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Victoria Grizzlies in a fast-paced exciting game on Friday night at the Kopar Memorial Arena.
After an evenly played first 18 minutes, the Grizzlies opened the scoring by winning a neutral zone faceoff, entering the zone quickly, and having Reegan Hiscock find Chase Pirtle to beat Carter Wishart at 18:45.
Ethan Montroy got the Spruce Kings even in the 2nd period at 2:01, sliding in on a breakaway behind the defenders and beating Oliver Auyeung-Ashton to the blocker side. Evan Bellamy banked a pass off the boards from his own zone which evaded the Grizzlies sticks to give Montroy the break.
Pirtle got the Grizzlies ahead just 2:18 later, as Thomas Molson’s point shot redirected off him and into the net, which is how the second period finished.
In the third, Mason Loewen picked up his 2nd goal in his last two games, finishing off a 3-way passing play with Brock Cummings and Skogen Schrott.
The Spruce Kings took their first lead of the game at 8:52, as Will Moore beat Auyeung-Ashton on the power play to make it 3-2. Lucas Veilleux and Linden Makow drew the assists.
Just two minutes later, Tobias Pitka put home a rebound at the top of the crease to tie the game with 9:06 to play.
The game would need overtime, and as Kazumo Sasaki couldn’t finish a breakaway move, Auyeung-Ashton poked the puck to Drew Hockley, who sent Jacksenn Hungle in on a breakaway and he made no mistake to end the game just 1:07 into the extra frame.
Shots on Goal:
Prince George – 27
Victoria – 37
3 Stars:
1st – Jacksenn Hungle (VIC) GWG
2nd – Chase Pirtle (VIC) 2 Goals
3rd – Mason Loewen (PG) 1 Goal
Fortis BC Energy Player: Trent Ballentyne (PG)