Spruce Kings Visit Rivermen

While most clubs are wrapping up for the Christmas break, the Spruce Kings play one final weekend in the lower mainland, first taking on the Rivermen, then the Eagles in Surrey.

The Rivermen are looking for a season high five straight wins where they try to keep the winning streak alive as currently they are 18-11-1-4, while PG are 17-13-0-2.

The Rivermen have played seven games this month (so far) and managed to pick up at least one point in at least six of the seven games played.

Team Captain for PG Kevan Killstoff leads the team in points with 38 in only 33 games this season, but looks at extending his streak for points.

The previous game (October 30) saw the Rivermen come away with a 5-2 win on home ice, where ben Butcher scored twice and managed two helpers.

Rivermen “‘tender” Bo Didur stopped 23 shots for the win allowing them to hold a 2-0-0-1 record over the Spruce Kings to date.

As of late the Spruce Kings have struggled and lost the last three, that included a 5-1 loss to Cowichan last Saturday on home ice, that saw them play a tired Capital’s team, who played in Langley the previous night.

As for players riding a “high”, the Spruce Kings look to third year forward Jeremiah Luedtke who has 11 goals and 29 assists in only 33 games.

Other players of note for the Kings is Justin Rai who started strong, but has fallen off due to the flu bug he was hit with.

Different from other clubs that see’s them travel a distance for games, which realistically is the same as Powell River who have every (away) game as a road game or a ferry ride home.

Different if you don’t live where you can drive home, in BCHL action the BC Ferries are a way of life on Canada’s west coast.

The first two periods were very entertaining with both “tenders” making quality stops, but the Spruce Kings allowed far too many two on one’s forcing Jenks to come up with quality stops behind the pipes.

The first period saw the teams trade one minor each while the second saw both clubs trade two minor penalties, for a calm game in front of just over 400 fans at the LEC.

The Rivermen outshoot PG in both periods by shots of 15-12 in the first and 19-17 in the second, so the third should be interesting, but hopefully clean.