Needless to say that this game has taken on a whole new complextion given the result just four nights ago and that these two will meet again in four more nights in the Coliseum. The Spruce Kings head back down to Quesnel to play the Millionaires for the second time in less than a week and the sixth time since the beginning of the season. This is also the fourth trip to Gold Pan city and a rink that was given the Spruce Kings fits having lost two of the previous three in the Vault.
On Friday night, confidence was high with the Spruce Kings riding a two game winning streak and the belief that the team had turned a corner in their season. That thought was quickly extinquished with the clang of the goal post, not once but twice as the Millionaires came at their visitors hard all night long. Just a matter of seconds into the opening period, Trevor Hertz rattled the post and the rebound came right back out for Tyler French who also hit the post. The Millionaires kept persisting and scored twice in the opening frame to take a 2-0 lead to the dressing room after the first period.
The Quesnel Millionaires contined their relentless forececk and eventually built up a 4-0 lead over the Spruce Kings. With time becoming a factor, the Spruce Kings were able to pounce on a few chances including a big point shot by Josh Pineiro that came right back on Kirby Halcrow (Quesnel Millionaires goaltender) where Lyndon Martell was able to find the loose puck to bury his third goal in nine games with his new team. Brooks Robinson scored the only other marker for Prince George giving the twenty year old forward his ninth of the season and 38th point to keep him in the top sixth among BCHL point getters.
The Spruce Kings will be looking for secondary offensive production and a strong defensive showing from top to bottom. With the smaller ice surface in Quesnel, the Millionaires like to dump and then press for a turnover. That style of play has proven effective with the Mill's 'D' getting rewarded with lots of assists and the occassional goal from point shots in the smaller offensive zones. One player that had a good game on Friday night but was still victimized by the final outcome was Spruce Kings goaltender Kyle Nielsen.
Nielsen faced a total of thirty shots and was strong between the pipes coming up with some big stops throughout. Tonight Steve Papciak, who has only played against the Millionaires once, will be back between the pipes tonight. Papciak and the Spruce Kings picked up a win against the Millionaires back on October 30th in Quesnel. That game saw the Spruce Kings build up a 3-0 lead on four shots to chase the starting goaltender eleven minutes in. On that night both Kirby Halcrow and Wes McLeod were away in Summerside PEI for the World Junior A Challenge. Tonight Halcrow is expected to get the start again for Quesnel and has proven to be a challenge for Prince George to beat in his three games with 2 wins and 1 loss as well as a 1.58 GAA and 93.67 save percentage.
Tonight's game is a 7:00pm start from the Vault in Quesnel with the game broadcast live on 93.1 CFIS-FM and also online from the Spruce Kings website. Prince George will be back at home for two more games this week starting with the Trail Smoke Eaters on Thursday and the Quesnel Millionaires on Saturday. Both games will be at the Prince George Coliseum with 7:00pm starts.
Rosters ...
Quesnel Millionaires
5 Sam Higgins (D 5'10" 165 3/23/1990 Calgary, AB, CAN) (GP 24 G 1 A 13 Pts 14 27 PIMs)
6 Spencer Graboski (F 6'02" 170 1/6/1993 Quesnel, BC, CAN) (GP 19 G 3 A 5 Pts 8 04 PIMs)
7 Matthew Herskovitz (D 6'02" 200 12/3/1989 Montreal, PQ, CAN) (GP 26 G 5 A 6 Pts 11 12 PIMs)
8 Tyson Price (F 5'11" 178 8/18/1991 Slave Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 15 G 1 A 1 Pts 2 06 PIMs)
9 Brett Howe (F 5'11" 185 5/22/1990 Lethbridge, AB, CAN) (GP 24 G 2 A 3 Pts 5 58 PIMs)
10 Catlin Bigsnake (F 6'05" 275 3/17/1990 Sihsike, AB, CAN) (GP 5 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 16 PIMs)
14 Skyler Smutek (D 6'00" 175 5/7/1990 Seattle, WA, USA) (GP 26 G 4 A 12 Pts 16 44 PIMs)
16 Trevor Hertz (F 6'00" 189 10/11/1989 Jaffray, BC, CAN) (GP 26 G 19 A 13 Pts 32 06 PIMs)
17 Taylor Holst (F 6'01" 185 4/24/1989 Kelowna, BC, CAN) (GP 26 G 14 A 12 Pts 26 49 PIMs)
18 Erik Hansen (F 5'11" 175 10/10/1989 Minnetonka, MN, USA) (GP 26 G 3 A 9 Pts 12 06 PIMs)
19 Breyden DeCock (F 5'09" 176 3/1/1990 Calgary, AB, CAN) (GP 20 G 2 A 3 Pts 5 24 PIMs)
20 Darick Ste-Marie (F 5'11" 195 9/19/1989 St-Bruno, PQ, CAN) (GP 26 G 6 A 14 Pts 20 20 PIMs)
21 Tyler French (F 5'07" 165 9/15/1990 Westside, BC, CAN) (GP 24 G 8 A 7 Pts 15 13 PIMs)
23 Matt Hutchinson (D 6'01" 195 7/1/1991 North Vancouver, BC, CAN) (GP 7 G 1 A 0 Pts 1 04 PIMs)
24 Brandon Watson (F 5'11" 173 2/24/1992 Keremeos, BC, CAN) (GP 15 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 27 PIMs)
26 Chris Kerr (F 6'00" 175 10/22/1992 Penticton, BC, CAN) (GP 21 G 1 A 1 Pts 2 00 PIMs)
27 Eliot Raibl (D 5'11" 184 3/28/1989 Vancouver, BC, CAN) (GP 26 G 2 A 17 Pts 19 39 PIMs)
28 Tyler Billon (D 6'02" 190 7/18/1992 Chilliwack, BC, CAN) (GP 17 G 0 A 2 Pts 2 10 PIMs)
31 Kirby Halcrow (G 6'02" 218 3/13/1991 Grande Prairie, AB, CAN) (GP 18 G 0 A 2 Pts 2 06 PIMs)
35 Luke Siemens (G 5'11" 165 11/6/1992 Delta, BC, CAN) (GP 9 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
Prince George Spruce Kings
1 Steve Papciak (G 5'11" 185 4/26/1990 Des Plaines, IL, USA) (GP 5 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
3 Wes McLeod (D 6'02" 185 9/30/1990 Kamloops, BC, CAN) (GP 21 G 6 A 15 Pts 21 33 PIMs)
5 Justin Fillion (D 5'11" 175 4/23/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 26 G 3 A 13 Pts 16 35 PIMs)
6 Tyler Miller (D 6'03" 210 1/1/1991 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 10 G 0 A 3 Pts 3 23 PIMs)
8 Jonathan Gibson (D 6'01" 205 2/1/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 23 G 3 A 3 Pts 6 32 PIMs)
9 Nick DeSousa (F 6'00" 180 11/13/1990 Fraser Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 22 G 7 A 4 Pts 11 14 PIMs)
10 Brad Bourke (D 6'01" 175 4/21/1989 Onoway, AB, CAN) (GP 1 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 02 PIMs)
11 Kyle Manlow (F 5'10" 165 6/28/1991 Murrieta, CA, USA) (GP 25 G 3 A 0 Pts 3 10 PIMs)
14 Lyndon Martell (F 6'01" 190 1/13/1993 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 0 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
15 Luke Hannas (F 6'02" 185 9/9/1991 Williams Lake, BC, CAN) (GP 21 G 0 A 3 Pts 3 69 PIMs)
17 Brooks Robinson (F 5'11" 180 8/18/1989 Duncan, BC, CAN) (GP 26 G 9 A 29 Pts 38 20 PIMs)
19 Joe Morgan (F 5'08" 180 4/7/1989 Kitimat, BC, CAN) (GP 21 G 5 A 11 Pts 16 11 PIMs)
20 Jeff Datoff (D 5'10" 160 5/26/1992 Nanaimo, BC, CAN) (GP 17 G 0 A 1 Pts 1 02 PIMs)
21 Stewart Lambert (F 6'00" 175 4/5/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 15 G 0 A 1 Pts 1 02 PIMs)
22 Jeremy Wiebe (F 6'00" 180 7/20/1991 Vernon, BC, CAN) (GP 22 G 1 A 1 Pts 2 70 PIMs)
23 RJay Berra (F 6'00" 180 7/26/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 26 G 6 A 7 Pts 13 08 PIMs)
24 Josh Pineiro (D 5'10" 211 8/25/1989 Huntington Beach, CA, USA) (GP 20 G 5 A 14 Pts 19 25 PIMs)
25 Zac Rasmussen (F 5'09" 178 5/8/1989 Kamloops, BC, CAN) (GP 25 G 10 A 11 Pts 21 59 PIMs)
26 Sam Muchalla (F 5'08" 150 8/14/1990 Prince George, BC, CAN) (GP 24 G 12 A 22 Pts 34 38 PIMs)
35 Kyle Nielsen (G 5'10" 170 7/21/1990 New Westminster, BC, CAN) (GP 8 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 00 PIMs)
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