The Prince George Spruce Kings and Trail Smoke Eaters had a few things in common heading into Game 3 action Monday night: Both were trailing their elimination series by a pair of games but looked forward to better results in front of their home fans. But only one was able to take advantage and force a fourth game.
Penticton (2) at Prince George (1) — 7:00 PM, Prince George Coliseum
The Spruce Kings received the dominant performance they needed from their top forwards on Monday and the effort paid off with a 3-2 home ice win. Sam Muchalla and Andrew Pickering each scored once and added two assists for Prince George, while Sean Ambrosie earned first star honours after a two-point performance.
The home team was just as solid in their own zone, with netminder Kevin Genoe stopping 28 of 30 shots for his first postseason win.
After falling behind 3-0 through two periods, the Vees rallied for a pair in the third on goals by Garrett Milan and Travis Ouellette while firing 18 shots at Genoe, but couldn't find the equalizer. Max Grassi picked up a pair of assists in the loss.
On Tuesday, the teams meet against at the Prince George Coliseum with the Spruce Kings just one 60-minute effort away from forcing the series back to Penticton for a fifth and deciding game.
Westside (3) eliminates Trail (0)
After a promising first 40 games of the season, it all seemed to go wrong for a Trail Smoke Eaters team that couldn't get the big win — or hold the crucial lead — down the stretch. Those habits seemed to carry into their first-round playoff series against Westside, with the Warriors more than happy to take advantage.
On Monday, the Smokie Eaters once again jumped out to a 2-0 second period lead, this time on a power-play marker from Nick Sandor and a tally from captain Ryan Bulach. But what took 36 minutes to build was ruined in less than three, with Chad Gehon and Craig Eisenhut drawing the Warriors even before intermission.
Trail's Justin Brown and Westside's Jordan Gidaro traded third period goals, setting up a second consecutive trip to overtime for the teams. And after the Warriors killed off an early tripping call to Joel Woznikowski, captain Rob Kelly clinched the series win 7:08 into the extra frame.
With the victory, Westside is assured a second-round meeting with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks that they will begin on the road on Friday.
