The Prince George Spruce Kings continued their dominant run to the Fred Page Cup Finals as team captain Ben Poisson scored late in overtime to give his team a 3-2 win and complete a four-game sweep of the Victoria Grizzlies to become the first team to punch their ticket to the league finals.
After a scoreless first period, Spruce Kings defenceman Liam Watson-Brawn gave PG a 1-0 lead 1:12 into the second, but the league MVP and leading scorer Alex Newhook willed the Grizzlies back into the lead with a pair of goals before the end of the period to make it 2-1 Victoria after two. Another defenceman, this time Layton Ahac, evened things up for Prince George with a goal midway through the third and Poisson buried the winner with just 1:51 left in the first overtime period to seal the win for the Spruce Kings.
Prince George goalie Logan Neaton continued to shine with a 34-save performance, while Victoria’s Kurtis Chapman was stellar in defeat, making 41 saves on 44 shots.
With his two second-period goals, Newhook finishes his 2019 postseason with 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points and is currently the BCHL playoffs leading scorer.
Poisson’s tally was his 10th of the postseason and puts him only one back of Newhook for the league lead heading into the championship series.
The Spruce Kings now await the winner of the Wenatchee/Vernon series to see who they will face in the finals.
Teddy Wooding had a goal and three assists, Jesse Lansdell chipped in with a pair of helpers and Aidan Porter made 26 saves as the Vernon Vipers beat the Wenatchee Wild 7-2 in Game 3 of the Interior Division Finals to take a 2-1 series lead. Logan Cash scored the lone goal of the first period to give Vernon a 1-0 lead after one. Ben Sanderson doubled the lead for the Vipers less than five minutes into the second, but Brian Adams answered back for the Wild 2:25 later to make it 2-1. Landon Fuller and Tyler Ho each scored before the end of the frame to make it 4-1 heading into intermission. Vernon pulled away in the third with goals by Michael Young, Wooding and Josh Latta, before Blake Bargar scored late to make it a 7-2 final. With one assist tonight, Vipers captain Jagger Williamson now leads his team with 15 points and is tied for seventh overall in the playoff scoring race.
