Ben Poisson’s goal at 12:07 of overtime delivered a 4-3 road win for the Prince George Spruce Kings over the Vernon Vipers that puts PG up 3-0 in the Fred Page Cup BCHL Finals.
Corey Cunningham opened the scoring late in the first period, receiving a point feed from Layton Ahac and deking Vipers goalie Aidan Porter in tight to the crease. Special teams then took centre stage as Max Coyle restored the PG advantage late in the second on the man advantage. Vernon drew level once again, taking advantage of a power play, with just 1:33 left in the second on a goal by Lane Zablocki.
With the score even entering the third, Nick Poisson cleaned up a rebound on the backhand and put the Spruce Kings in the lead once again. It looked like it might hold up as the winner but Zablocki was not yet done on offence. The Detroit Red Wings draft pick gathered a loose puck in the corner and circled to the slot before beating Logan Neaton to make it 3-3 with just 2:20 remaining in regulation and set the stage for overtime.
In a cautious OT session, chances were scarce but just past the 12-minute mark, Ben Poisson recovered a loose puck in the Vipers’ end and went backhand from in front for the game-winning goal.
Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Vernon.
