The Prince George Spruce Kings’ playoff hopes are starting to fade.
Their 3-2 loss to the Sherwood Park Crusaders Sunday afternoon at Kopar Memorial Arena only increases the likelihood the Kings will miss the BC Hockey League postseason for a second consecutive year.
But don’t despair Spruce Kings fans, as long as there’s a possibility there’s still a shred of hope.
Aside from shaky beginning that led two Sherwood Park goals in the first seven minutes, the Kings showed the gutsy intensity, commitment to teamwork and relentless work ethic it takes to be a playoff team and they used their home-ice advantage to make Crusaders dig deep to pull out the victory.
After seeing that game unfold, Kings captain Linden Makow certainly hasn’t lost faith in his team.
“I thought we handled that game well, we found a way to push back and tie it up at the end, we just need to clean up some minor details and hopefully put some games away,” said Makow, whose power-play goal 10:52 into the third period briefly put the Spruce Kings back on even terms.
“The chances are there, we just need to work on bearing down in front of the net. I feel we have the group here that can make playoffs and we just have to push for it. I thought we played a good physical game, we just need to keep it rolling here.”
The Crusaders are the highest-scoring team in the BCHL and it took them less than four minutes to flex their muscles. Miscommunication in the Kings zone led to a turnover and Masun Fleece standing just off the post when he got the pass from linemate Joel Purdom and he tucked it in the open side.
Failure to clear the puck out of the defensive zone produced another disastrous result for the Spruce Kings just shy of the seven-minute mark. The puck went through a couple of Prince George sticks before it squirted out into the circle for defenceman Jude Bray and he pounced on it in time to slide it past Kings goalie Charles-Edward Gravel.
Aside from those two mistakes, the Spruce Kings matched up well with their opponents in that opening frame.
Down 2-0, they came out of the gate for the second period looking like more like a team desperate for points to get closer to a playoff position. They had the edge in quality scoring chances and after surviving a few dicey incidents in their own zone facing the league’s top power play, the Spruce Kings finally got what they were after and Mason Loewen did all the work.
The Crusaders ringed the net with the puck to try clear the zone and Loewen seized the opportunity to flatten defenceman Cooper Sharp with a clean check in the corner. With Sharp down on the ice Loewen grabbed the puck and carried it to the net and lifted a high shot in over the shoulder of goalie Spencer Michnik to cut the gap to 2-1.
Gravel came up with a terrific kick save late in the period to deny Kale Dach, the BCHL’s second-leading point-getter, with the Crusaders threatening on a power play.
The Kings’ desperation was even more obvious in the third period while they pressed for the equalizer and they kept the Crusaders on their heels with a mid-period surge that led Makow’s power-play goal. Brock Cummings won the draw and the puck came to Kings captain and his hard shot had enough momentum to trickle through the pads of goalie Michnik.
But it didn’t take the Crusaders to get the eventual gamewinner. Off the rush, Fleece fed the puck over to Lucas Brennan and his low wrister from the slot deflected in off Gravel’s leg.
The Spruce Kings (19-25-4-1) have five games left to close a four-point gap on the Langley Rivermen in the race for the final Coastal Conference playoff spot.
The team leaves Thursday morning for the Lower Mainland, the start of a three-game weekend trip that stops in Coquitlam, Chilliwack and Surrey. They’ll complete the regular season March 29-30 at home against Powell River.
“Every game from here on out is a must-win game now, that’s how we’re looking at it,” said Makow.
The Rivermen (19-22-8-1) are down to their last four games. They head to Alberta this weekend to play in Blackfalds and Spruce Grove, then return home to face Coquitlam and Chilliwack March 28-29.
The Crusaders (31-18-1-0) moved to within two points of Salmon Arm for fourth place in the Interior Conference and they have no shortage of motivation with four games left, knowing fourth place will mean home-ice advantage for the first playoff round.
Head coach Brennan Menard said it was unique experience for his team playing for the first time on the league’s smallest ice surface at Kopar. It’s 10 feet shorter than a typical NHL-sized rink and the Kings used it to their advantage.
“They played a hard heavy game, credit to them, the degree of difficulty in that win was high for our team and I’m real happy they were able to pull that out,” said Menard. “I know what their record is but they play well in this rink and that was a difficult game. They kept coming and pressed and pressed. The two goals early allowed us to make some mistakes and learn the rink a bit and not end up on the losing end.
“They know how to play in this rink,” aid Menard. “It plays differently than just about any rink and even shots that are typically from distance are much closer, with the lively boards as well and you have to make sure you don’t get beat when the puck ricochets and it always makes for tense game, you never get a chance to relax on the bench.”
The Kings can take some satisfaction in the fact they limited Jeremy Loranger and Dach, who have combined for 174 points this season, to just one assist, that coming to Dach on Bray’s goal.
“The effort was there and they did a good job shutting down their top line, ” said Kings general manager Mike Hawes. “Unfortunately their supporting cast is extremely strong with a lot of speed and a lot of skill and they work incredibly hard, I have to give them full marks for the two points.
“Our guys battled hard but just couldn’t get it done in the end. You can’t get down early like that and have to battle back against a team like that when you’re trying to claw back the entire game. We needed to get off to a better start.”
LOOSE PUCKS: Hockey legend Dave ‘Tiger’ Williams will be the guest panelist for the Spruce Kings gala/awards banquet Friday, March 28 at 6 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott. Tickets for the dinner are $75, available at the Spruce Kings office at Kopar… A group of former Spruce Kings will play each other in the alumni game on Saturday, March 30 at 2:45 p.m. The 71-year-old Williams, a veteran of 962 regular season games and 83 playoff games in the NHL who collected 253 goals and 538 points and 4,421 penalty minutes in a 14-year career, is slated to play in the alumni game.
