Spruce King Chad Staley with the puck is chased by Chilliwack Chief Mathleu Tibbet during first period play Monday night at the Prince George Coliseum.
Photograph by: Brent Braaten , Prince George Citizen
The Chilliwack Chiefs hit the Prince George Spruce Kings early and often Monday to take a 2-1 series lead in their first-round BCHL playoff series.
With Monday's 5-3 victory, Chilliwack pushed Prince George to the brink of elimination in the best-of-five series.
The Chiefs showed no signs of tiredness from the trip north as they leapt out to an early lead thanks to a Philip Zielonka goal just 20 seconds in.
Four minutes later, Austin Plevy struck again for the Chiefs. And by the time the first period was half over, Zielonka had extended the lead to three with his second of the game.
Chilliwack outshot Prince George 13-4 in that first period, and they carried the momentum into the second, with Mathieu Tibbet scoring just 46 seconds in to further fortify the Chiefs' lead.
Chilliwack made frequent trips to the penalty box, but Prince George couldn't make their opponents pay.
With five minutes left in the second, Coltyn Hansen did score for the home side on the man advantage. But the Spruce Kings also failed on eight other power play opportunities.
As they had done at the start of the first and second period, Chilliwack grabbed a goal early in the third courtesy of Luke Esposito.
Prince George quickly replied, thanks to Trevor Esau. And by the midway point of the period, the lead was down to two.
But that's as close as Prince George came.
Chilliwack is now 5-0 in the Prince George Coliseum this year. Game 4 is slated for Tuesday night. A win by the Spruce Kings would force a fifth and deciding game, which would be played Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Chilliwack.
