The Prince George Spruce Kings knew they could not afford to lose.
The list of hockey teams that have rebounded from a 3-0 series deficit to win the next four is extremely short in any league. So, after dropping the first two games of their BCHL Coastal Conference quarterfinal series over the weekend in Chilliwack, the Spruce Kings had only one option: win.
They avoided that painful precipice with an impressive 3-1 victory on Tuesday over the Chiefs in front of 929 fans at Kopar Memorial Arena.
Back-to-back goals, 45 seconds apart, from Brock Cummings and Nicolas Papineau to start the third period, plus an empty-netter from Will Moore, were all the offence Prince George needed to neutralize the league’s most potent group of goal-scorers and get back into the series against the top-seeded Chiefs.
“We went into this knowing we had to win because our backs were against the wall. When we’ve been in that situation this year, I think we’ve always come through and played well. It just happened again today,” said Cummings.
The Kings were trailing 1-0 early in the third period when Brendan Gilmore’s stretch pass from deep in Spruce Kings territory found Cummings just as he crossed the blue line, with no Chief in sight. He made the most of his chance, executing a forehand-backhand deke to score his third of the playoffs.
Not long after, the Kings took the lead, 2-1, on a quick left-wing rush that ended with Papineau rifling a short-side wrister into the top corner of the net behind goalie Quentin Miller. The goal came 8:19 into the third.
“It was a great pass. I guess I caught them slacking a bit with a change or something, went in, and scored,” said Cummings.
“When we keep their shots to a minimum and keep their goals to a minimum, we know we can win games. We’ve got a series now, let’s keep it going.”
The Chiefs averaged 4.70 goals per game during the regular season, and Gilmore knows how difficult it is to keep them off the scoreboard. So, holding them to just one goal was a significant accomplishment in their effort to claw back into the series.
“It’s huge, probably the biggest game of the year. The boys were prepared, and the coaches prepared us well. It feels really good to win,” said Gilmore. “We’ve got Gravy (Gravel) back there, and he’s been great ever since he came. The whole D-corps is playing really well, and we’re starting to come together. It feels good to figure it out, but there’s more to come.
“We don’t think of it as one versus eight. We believe we’re a strong group and can beat any team. We just have to focus on what we do. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is — we think we can go far. It’s fun to play here, and I think we play a good brand of hockey in this rink.”
The Spruce Kings matched up well with the Chiefs 5-on-5 in both games in Chilliwack and showed that confidence early, dominating much of the play in the first period. They established their forecheck early and took advantage of a rink that’s 10 feet shorter than most, using that to their benefit. They knew where to be to get the caroms off the boards and seemed to have their legs moving faster than their opponents to get to loose pucks.
Though they didn’t score in the period, they easily could have. Shots were 16-6 in favour of the Spruce Kings in the first period, and they made goalie Miller work hard.
Kings goalie Charles-Edward Gravel faced only six shots in the first 20 minutes, but Chilliwack’s shots were quality over quantity. He looked sharp, moving his feet and using his pads to block everything sent his way. That set the tone for the rest of the game, and he was nearly unbeatable, allowing just one of 19 shots to find the net while the Kings outshot the Chiefs 31-19.
“They outworked us. They wanted it more,” said Chiefs centre Caleb Malhotra, who opened the scoring late in the second period. “But we’re the better team, and we know we’re going to bounce back with some energy here. We’re going to come into this next game, and it won’t happen again.”
Malhotra, a native of Toronto whose father, Manny, played 1,024 NHL games over 16 seasons for seven teams, believes the Chiefs’ power play will get back on track in Game 4 now that they’ve had a chance to adjust to the tight confines of the Prince George rink.
“I have full trust in these guys. All year, they’ve been automatic, so I’m confident they’ll get their touch back. It will come,” said the 16-year-old Boston University recruit for 2026-27. “We need more energy, more physicality, more bite to our game, and more pucks to the net. This is playoff hockey — just keep it simple.
“It’s fun to play against these guys. Whenever you go like this, you know it’s not going to be high-scoring. You’ve got to work for goals here, and it’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s an adjustment. Everything has to be quicker, the boards are bouncier, and you’ve got to make hard, sure plays. Tonight, it was a bit unsure for us coming up here — it’s a bit of a shoebox.”
There wasn’t much offence from either team in the second period, and the Spruce Kings almost held off the Chiefs for two full periods. But with 77 seconds left before the break, Malhotra won a draw in the Spruce Kings’ end back to defenceman Lucas Sorace. Sorace took the shot right away, and Malhotra, parked just off the post, tipped it into the net over Gravel’s shoulder for a 1-0 lead.
The Chiefs were blanked on their two power-play chances after scoring at a 40 percent clip (4-for-10) through the first two games, which was a huge factor in tilting those games in Chilliwack’s favour.
“Special teams kind of hurt us in Chilliwack, and it was something we really keyed in on in a few short meetings we’ve had here in just a couple of days. It was a big part of why we had success,” said Spruce Kings associate coach Taylor Harnett.
“But I think a bigger part of that is we were able to keep our discipline under wraps, not let our emotions run too high, and just stay even. Credit to our group, and I think having our fans on our side, plus the energy of being home and getting a big win in front of them, was huge. It’s home-ice advantage for a reason, and we took advantage of it.”
The Spruce Kings made the playoffs with a late surge and finished eighth in the Coastal Conference standings, 27 points behind first-place Chilliwack. But that slate was wiped clean at the start of the postseason, and the Chiefs no doubt realize that the Spruce Kings are a tough first-round opponent.
“The thing that’s so impressive about our group is what we saw today — this is what we’ve been doing for the past three or four months. There’s never any quit,” said Harnett. “They’re really focused on the task at hand — not too high, not too low. The goal was to get a victory, get back on the bus, and eventually take back a few points we left when we were there.”
Game 4, Wednesday at Kopar, starts at 7 p.m.
Tuesday’s win for Prince George means the teams will meet again in Chilliwack for Game 5 on Friday. If necessary, Game 6 will be played at Kopar on Sunday, with Game 7 scheduled for Chilliwack on Tuesday.
