Spruce Kings Sweep Weekend Road Set

Tai Ushio scored twice in the first period and Ryan Wachtel had three assists as the Prince George Spruce Kings defeated the Langley Rivermen 6-2 on the road on Saturday night.

Ushio got the Spruce Kings on the board first at 8:37 when Kazumo Sasaki found him on a 2 on 1 after a lead pass from Marcus Lougheed.

Dominic Szczygiel scored his 3rd of the season at 17:42 of the frame as he went to the net and put the rebound home off of a Wachtel shot, with Trent LeDrew drawing the second assist.

The Spruce Kings made it 3-0 just 53 seconds later as Ushio scored his second of the night from Lougheed and Sasaki.

The Rivermen got within two at 5:46 of the second as Aaron Reierson scored his 13th of the year on a scramble in front, but the Spruce Kings would respond with less than five minutes to go.

It was Szczygiel who moved the puck to Wachtel on the right wing, who stopped up in the offensive zone and waited for Dracen Campbell to join the rush before finding him with the pass. Campbell snapped one past Dylan Johnson to make it 4-1.

Prince George got their first of three power plays in the 3rd period, and Carter Hesselgrave found the back of the net from Wachtel and LeDrew.

With under four minutes to go, Mason Loewen dug the puck off the end wall and got to River Arnason, who spun in the slot and sniped one top corner for his first BCHL goal.

Christian Chouha put a loose puck past Colin Reay at 17:23, but Reay would finish with 22 saves and third star honours.  Wachtel was the second star as Ushio earned the first star.

The Spruce Kings head to Vancouver Island for three games starting Wednesday at 7:00 pm in Nanaimo against the Clippers.