A scoring affair lit up the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA) last night (Oct. 11), but it was the Prince George Spruce Kings coming out on the losing end.
Completing a comeback attempt through regulation time, thanks to a late power-play goal from local product Corey Cunningham, Prince George sent their tilt against Nanaimo into overtime.
However, that extra frame would solve nothing and it was Clippers’ goaltender Jordan Naylor that iced the Spruce Kings by stopping all five shootout attempts, going 1-0 and claiming the full two points in the 5-4 victory.
Naylor made 35 saves on 39 shots, while Prince George netminder Jett Alexander collected a 27-save performance.
The Spruce Kings salvage a point from the defeat, but it downs their record to 4-5-2-1, their first shootout loss of the 2019-20 season, and places them fourth in the Mainland Division.
Cunningham and Fin Williams each compiled three points; Cunningham’s goals both came on the power-play with Williams assisting on both markers in addition to his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the final minutes of the second period.
Prince George lit the first lamp for a second time in their last three games, coming off the readied stick of Preston Brodziak just 66 seconds in.
Cunningham was credited with an assist and so did newcomer Jaxon Steele.
Nanaimo would responded over three minutes later and with seven minutes to go in the first period and it was Kyler Kovich with both tallies.
The visiting Clippers got to as much as a two-goal lead, making it 3-1 at 6:39 in the middle stanza.
Williams and Cunningham scored within 71 seconds of each other later on to even the score at 3-3 and swaying the momentum to the ‘Kings going into the second intermission.
That was short lived with Nanaimo regaining a one-goal advantage 103 seconds in the third period.
A checking-to-the-head major and a game-misconduct to Travis Walton put Prince George on the power-play for five minutes, which helped muster the tying goal by Cunningham for his second of the night and hanging on to send the RMCA to overtime.
The scoreless five-minute period was followed by the shootout that ended in five rounds once ex-Spruce King Sean Donaldson potted the dagger and Naylor prevented a Cunningham attempt to hand Prince George a 5-4 loss.
The red, white and blue are back on the ice tonight (Oct. 12) for the second of its Thanksgiving weekend games.
This time, it’ll be against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks inside the RMCA starting at 7 p.m.
