Photo Courtesy: Garrett James

By Ethan Ready

Shutout win

Buono records 2nd hat trick as Spruce Kings remain perfect against Cens

Apr 28, 2021 | 9:33 PM

CHILLIWACK, BC – Christian Buono netted home his second hat-trick of the pod season, while Kolton Cousins, Nick Rhéaume, Hunor Torzsok, and Simon Labelle all found the back of the net, as the Prince George Spruce Kings were 7-0 winners over the Merritt Centennials on Wednesday night at the Chilliwack Coliseum.

At 17:23 of the first period, Colton Cameron made a great feed from his own zone to Christian Buono on a breakaway and was able to slide the puck to his backhand and by Colton Phillips-Watts to start the scoring for the Spruce Kings. Buono’s 8^th in the pod was assisted by Cameron and Ben LeFranc.

Merritt was only able to muster a single shot on net in the opening 20 minutes while the Kings registered 11.

In the second frame, Kolton Cousins got the puck at the side of the goal and wrapped it around and in past Phillips-Watts to give PG a 2-0 lead. Cousins’ 7^th in the pod was assisted by Carter Cochrane and Corey Cunningham.

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After a long hard battle in the right-wing corner, Simon Labelle was able to find Nick Rhéaume at the right circle and slid the puck underneath the blocker of Phillips-Watts to give the Spruce Kings a 3-0 lead. Rheaume’s fifth in the pod was assisted by both Labelle and Rowan Miller.

Carter Cochrane did the bulk of the work carrying the puck into the attacking zone and made a great feed to Christian Buono who made a great move around the Merritt goaltender to add to the PG lead. Buono’s second of the night was assisted by Cochrane at 13:44.

3:03 into the final period, Connor Elliott made a great feed into the middle for Hunor Torzsok who tipped home his first in the pod. Torzsok’s tally was assisted by Elliott and Amran Bhabra.

On a Spruce Kings power-play, the connection of Nick Rheaume and Simon Labelle clicked once again. Off a feed from Rheaume, Labelle was able to put it by Brayden Melnyk to give PG their sixth goal of the evening. Labelle’s first BCHL goal had the lone assist from Rheaume at 6:07.

On a Centennial power-play, Christian Buono was able to grab the puck up the right-wing and took it right to the goal and made another nice move around the Centennial goaltender for his hat-trick marker and team-leading 10^th of the pod. Buono’s short-handed marker was unassisted at 9:43.

Jordan Fairlie completed the shutout performance, turning away all 16 shots he faced on the night. The shutout marks his first of the BCHL season, joining his fellow goalie teammates as all three goalies for the Spruce Kings have now each registered at least one shutout this season. The Spruce Kings have a combined 5 shutouts.

With the 7-0 win, the Spruce Kings remain undefeated against the Centennials this season after seven of their 10 scheduled meetings.

They now look ahead to their next game on Friday where they will face the Chilliwack Chiefs.