The Prince George Spruce Kings were able to regain some momentum last night (Nov. 27) and finish their extended road trip with a victory.
The red, white and blue rolled out of Penticton with a 5-3 win thanks to the efforts of their captain, a six-foot-five forward and one of their top-two defencemen.
Nolan Welsh, Wil Kushniryk and Nick Bochen each recorded two points against the second-best team in the B.C. Hockey League (BCHL), while goaltender Jett Alexander made 31 saves on 34 shots from the Vees.
Penticton may have tied the game twice but the Spruce Kings never trailed in the contest.
They enjoyed leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 before Welsh potted an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final.
Carter Cochrane got things started by lighting the only lamp of the opening frame, getting assists from Bochen and Brendan Hill.
The Vees’ Danny Weight, one of the top-scorers in the league, evened the score over seven minutes into the second period, but Kushniryk replied later in the stanza with his first goal as a Prince George Spruce King.
He also got his first assist as a ‘King 92 seconds into the third, helping out Ryan McAllister on his fifth goal of the year to get a 3-1 lead.
Penticton rallied back to a 3-3 tie three minutes into the same period, including one goal 26 seconds after McAllister’s marker.
Prince George’s captain led the charge in the latter-half of regulation.
Welsh scored his ninth and tenth goals of the season resulting in the victory; the empty-netter came with 79 seconds left after Penticton netminder Carl Stankowski was pulled in an attempt to comeback.
The Spruce Kings’ record improves to 11-15-2-3 and finished the five-game road-trip, 2-3.
They now start a five-game homestand at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA), beginning this Sunday afternoon (Dec. 1), 3 p.m. against the Powell River Kings.
