Prince George, BC ~ Victoria put together a strong performance, but a second period span of five minutes that saw them give up three goals proved to be the difference maker in a 5-4 loss in Prince George.
Victoria began the game with a powerful, structured opening for twenty minutes, leading 2-0 at the end of the frame. Denny Monahan (1) scored his first in the BCHL at 13:29, following his own rebound, and then Artur Gross (7th) made it two with ten seconds to go in the first.
Prince George answered in a big way in the second, heading into the second intermission up 4-3 after goals from Mason Loewen (5th), Ben Vreugdenhil (5th) and Marcus Laugheed (7th & 8th) twice. Laugheed’s 7th was a power-play tally. Victoria’s only answer in the period was Michael Dowdall (5th), who scored from distance on Colin Reay in the Prince George crease.
The Spruce Kings tacked on another powerplay marker 1:36 into the third from Tai Ushio (13th) and that two goal lead was deemed to much to climb for the Grizzlies. The visitors got one back late from Trae Johnson (6th), but Prince George fended off a furious Grizzlies attempt to tie things up. The Spruce Kings walked away with a 5-4 win in spite of being heavily outshot 32-24 and vastly outplayed for the most part.
Casimir Weckstrom made 19 saves on 24 shots in the Grizzly crease while Colin Reay stopped 28 of 32 for the Spruce Kings. The home side’s power play also went 2/4, which was a big key in the game.
The two squads meet tomorrow night again at 6:00 p.m. to close out their weekend duo.
