It’s a long road to Cranbrook but that bus ride just got a lot shorter for the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The trip south to the Kootenays won’t seem quite so ominous now that the Kings are in the driver’s seat with a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven BCHL Interior Conference quarterfinal playoff series with the Cranbrook Bucks.
They took care of business in Game 2 Saturday at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, defeating the Bucks 4-1.
But don’t let the score fool you. This one was tense right down to the wire. At least until Luc Laylin deflected in a point shot from Josh Wright to give the Kings a 3-1 lead with 6:33 left in the third period.
“Definitely, making that a two-goal game was a huge turning point,” said Laylin. “I just got my stick on it there, luckily, and it went in.
“We stayed disciplined today and got pucks in deep and worked hard in the O-zone and got rewarded for it. It feels pretty good going into their barn up 2-0, it’s definitely a good advantage for us and we’ve got them on their toes. It’s a hard barn to play in and it’s a long bus ride and we just have to be ready to go.”
Bucks coach Ryan Donald got goalie Nathan Airey to the bench for the extra skater with about four minutes left but they were unable to get much going in the offensive end and Kings captain Kolton Cousins sealed it with an empty-netter with 7:17 left.
“They are a good team and going up 2-0 in the series, especially at home, it’s big going into Monday,” said the 20-year-old Wright, who had his dad Shawn and 13-year-old brother Will up from Woodstock, Ont., watching from the RMCA bleachers. “It was a gutsy win and that’s how it’s going to be, that’s playoffs. I think as the series goes on it’s only going to get harder for both teams so it was good to get another win here tonight.”
Cousins opened the scoring two minutes into the second period. He was ideally positioned to blast in a rebound from the left circle after a slick individual rush from linemate Laylin, who carried the puck in over the line and used his speed to get a step ahead of his check with an inside-out move that gave him a good look at the net.
A couple minutes later, Nick Rheaume made it 2-0 Prince George when he jumped over the boards on a delayed penalty. Defenceman Dylan Schives fed him the puck on a platter and Rheaume unleashed a high-velocity missile that hit the far side of the net high behind Airey.
It seemed it was only a matter of time before Bucks’ sniper Tyson Dyck got his name on the scoresheet. The 18-year-old Abbotsford native led Cranbrook with 75 points in 54 games, good enough to finish fourth in the BCHL scoring race, and he earned his first point of the series after a face-off win deep in the Kings’ end. Jarrod Smith chipped the puck ahead to Dyck, who raced into the corner and scored from a sharp angle with only a sliver of net showing behind Aaron Trotter.
Nursing a 2-1 lead, the Kings kept the Bucks bottled up. Just one shot was all they needed to tie it and when they did get the puck on net, Trotter stood tall. He stopped all eight shots in the third period and came up with 23 saves in the game to record his second career BCHL playoff victory. The Kings outshot the Bucks 34-24.
Although the score was identical to Friday’s result it was a much different game – tighter checking and much more discipline from both teams.
“We’re a little younger and inexperienced and we learned from yesterday’s game and got a lot better, definitely it’s coming to us as we play,” said Bucks captain Rhys Bentham. “It’s one shot away, they got one and it went in and it could have gone the other way, it’s that simple.”
Both teams boarded buses right after the game for the 10-hour journey to Cranbrook, where the series shifts for Games 3 and 4 Monday and Tuesday. Game 5, if needed, will be played Thursday at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
“They have a good team, we have a long way to go,” said Kings head coach Alex Evin. “Tonight felt more like a playoff game, it was a lot closer, just the way the two teams played, versus Game 1, which was sloppy and undisciplined from both teams.
‘We got our grind game going in the third (period), which we didn’t get going much in the first and second, and when we did get it going they did a pretty good job keeping us to the outside for the first half of the game. I thought as the game went on we got heavy and got to the inside ice more and that (third goal from Laylin) was a big goal.”
The Prince George fans in the crowd of 1,233 gave the players a taste of the playoff buzz last seen at RMCA in the spring of 2019, when the Spruce Kings got on a roll and won their first BCHL championship. Because of the pandemic that wiped out the past two playoff seasons, the Spruce Kings are still the defending champions.
“It’s such a huge advantage for us, playing at home is so cool,” said Cousins. “Obviously, we haven’t had playoffs for a couple years and the atmosphere is pretty special and I’m looking forward to the next round or Game 5 at home.”
The Bucks were without the services of their first- and second-string centremen, Noah Quinn and Liam Hansson. Both were handed two-game suspensions for illegal hits in the series opener. Quinn, the Bucks’ second-leading scorer in the regular season with 55 points in 53 games, was ejected from Friday’s game in the first period when he took out Trotter after getting shot on goal. Hansson nailed Kings winger Luke German with head hit in the third period. Both players drew five-minute majors and game misconducts. German left the game Friday and did not return. He is under concussion protocol and won’t see the ice for at least a week.
The Bucks are going home to their rink, Western Financial Place, where they averaged 2,195 spectators, second only to Penticton (4,599) in league attendance. Monday’s game (6 p.m. PT start) will be the first-ever BCHL playoff game in Cranbrook.
“It’s been over two years now for some people that have been signed with the organization and I think the city, the organization, the fans - everybody’s excited for this first game,” said Bentham. “That where we like to play, we like the board and the glass. When you get hit, it’s pretty forgiving, there you get a nice bounce.
“Prince George is a pretty good team and nothing’s easy against them, so it’s going to be another battle.”
BCHL playoffs
Interior Conference quarterfinal
Prince George Spruce Kings vs. Cranbrook Bucks
(Spruce Kings lead best-of-seven series 2-0)
Game 2
Saturday summary
Bucks 1 at Spruce Kings 4
First Period
No scoring.
Penalties – LeFranc PG (hooking) 3:07, Good CR (holding) 7:51, Cousins PG (holding) 10:27, Morrissey CR (roughing), Miller PG (roughing) 12:52, Ride CR (cross-checking) 13:13.
Second Period
Penalties – Rogers CR (double roughing, served by Schmidt), Labelle PG (roughing 15:25.
Third Period
4. Prince George, Laylin 2 (Wright, LeFranc) 13:16
5. Prince George, Cousins 2, 17:43 (en)
Penalty – Gelbard CR (misconduct) 18:21.
Shots on goal by
Cranbrook 4 12 8 -24
Prince George 7 12 15 -34
Goal – Cranbrook, Airey (L,0-2); Prince George, Trotter (W,2-0)
Power play - CR: 0-2; PG: 0-3.
Referees – Jake Podann, Steve Brown; Linesmen – Caden Fanshaw, Tyler Garden.
Attendance – 1,233.
