The Prince George Spruce Kings snapped a four-game losing streak with a decisive 6-3 win against the Surrey Eagles on Saturday night at Kopar Memorial Arena.
Ethan Montroy shone brightly for the Spruce Kings, netting a hat trick, while Carter Wishart put forth a stellar performance in net with 51 saves.
Montroy kicked off the scoring just 5:34 into the first period, tipping a shot past Eagles goaltender Maddox Osaka, who was making his BCHL debut. Lucas Veilleux and Skogen Schrott assisted on the opening goal.
The Spruce Kings extended their lead with Montroy’s second goal on a power play, as he received a drop pass from Schrott at the blue line, skated across the middle, and fired a shot past Osaka, with Ty Paisley also credited with an assist.
The Eagles fought back, capitalizing on a 5-on-3 power play after a major penalty to Veilleux and a minor to Vital Dinis. Sihwan Kim took advantage, beating Wishart to narrow the score to 2-1.
Surrey managed to tie the game at 2-2 late in the first period, with Brandon Gill finishing off a 2-on-1 break alongside Brady Kudrick at 16:59.
Montroy completed his hat-trick early in the third period, picking up a puck at the red line from Jayden Connors and outmanouvering an Eagles defender before finding the back of the net. Just over a minute later, Kazumo Sasaki scored, assisted by Montroy, extending the lead to 4-2.
The Spruce Kings continued to dominate, with Paisley scoring his second goal of the season off a face-off win from Brock Cummings, making it 5-2. Schrott capped off the scoring for Prince George by poking a shot over the line from an Evan Bellamy point attempt, with Sasaki providing the second assist.
Despite a late goal from Brady Kudrick with just 14 seconds remaining, the Eagles fell short, ending the match at 6-3 in favour of the Spruce Kings.
The game saw a total of 54 shots from Surrey, while the Spruce Kings aimed to build on their success in the coming games.
