Photo Credit: James Doyle
They’re down, but not out. The Cranbrook Bucks ran into many of the same problems they encountered in game one with the Prince George Spruce Kings. Game two on Saturday produced a similar result – a 4-1 win for the Spruce Kings, giving them a 2-0 lead in the first round series.
The first period was a tug-of-war, with neither side gaining a definitive advantage. Both teams failed to -score on multiple power play chances. The Spruce Kings outshot Cranbrook 7-4 in the first period, and the score remained 0-0 through the opening twenty minutes.
Goals started to come for both sides in the second period. Prince George captain Kolton Cousins opened the scoring just over two-minutes into the frame when he converted a Luc Laylin rebound. Nick Rheaume boosted Prince George’s lead to 2-0 when he blasted a one-timer past Nathan Airey near the four-minute mark. Cranbrook managed to find a response at 7:48 when Tyson Dyck scored off a faceoff win in Spruce Kings territory. The game was close after two periods, with the Spruce Kings maintaining a 2-1 lead to head into the third period.
The Spruce Kings shifted back to a smothering defensive game to halt any Cranbrook momentum in the final frame. Prince George added goals from Luc Laylin and Kolten Cousins to take a 4-1 win, while the Bucks could muster only 8 shots in the final frame.
With Saturday’s loss, the Bucks find themselves trailing Prince George 2-0 in their first round best-of-seven series. Cranbrook’s power play failed to tally on two attempts while Prince George’s power play finished 0/3. The Bucks were outshot 34-24 in game two.
The series will shift back to Cranbrook for games three and four on Monday and Tuesday.
Buck Tracks:
- Tyson Dyck scores first career BCHL playoff goal.
- Noah Quinn and Liam Hansson serve first games of separate two game suspensions.
- Jarrod Smith earns an assist, first career BCHL playoff point.
