You have to hand it to the Prince George Spruce Kings.
They’re giving it their all to secure a spot in the BCHL playoffs.
On Sunday afternoon in Surrey, the Spruce Kings defeated the Surrey Eagles 6-1 to wrap up their three-game road trip with five of a possible six points, moving within three points of the Langley Rivermen for the final playoff spot in the Coastal Conference.
The Kings got an offensive spark from their fourth line — Cooper Williams, Aidan Carolan, and Corson Maguire. The trio opened the scoring five minutes into the second period and later added the sixth goal late in the game, with Williams scoring twice.
Carter Hesselgrave gave Prince George a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, but that advantage lasted only 23 seconds into the final frame when Gavin Roccha found the back of the net behind Kings goalie Charles-Edward Gravel.
The Kings survived an extended push from the Eagles and regained the momentum at 6:17 of the third when Nicolas Papineau scored his 11th of the season on a breakaway to make it 3-1.
Ryan Wachtel and Brock Cummings — the latter on a Prince George power play — also scored against Eagles goalie Aidan Fischer, and Williams capped the scoring with less than two minutes remaining.
Gravel made 29 saves to improve his season record to 8-3.
The 20-year-old from Lévis, Que., ranks among the league’s top goalies, sporting a 1.95 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage since joining the Spruce Kings from the QMJHL in early February.
Sunday’s victory, combined with their 3-2 win on Friday in Coquitlam and a 4-3 shootout loss on Saturday in Chilliwack, improved the Spruce Kings’ record to 25-21-4-2.
With two games left in the season, the Spruce Kings and Rivermen are in a tight race.
Prince George will host Powell River in a two-game set at Kopar Memorial Arena on Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (3 p.m.), while Langley will host the Coquitlam Express on Friday before closing out the season Saturday against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
To overtake the Rivermen (21-22-8-1), the Spruce Kings will need to beat Powell River twice and hope Langley earns no more than a single point in its final two games. If both teams finish tied in points, Prince George would be awarded eighth place due to having more wins than Langley.
