By Jesse McGowan

HIGHLIGHTS: Kings of The Castle: Spruce Kings Advance To BCHL Finals With Overtime Win

Apr 5, 2018 | 11:01 PM

Resiliency.

The one word repeated over and over again in post-game interviews with members of the Spruce Kings. To a team that feels they’ve been undersold all season, this is the word they choose to use. They trailed 3-1 to the Surrey Eagles, but they showed resilience. On Thursday night, they gave up the 1-0 goal with less than eight minutes left, but once again, they displayed the tenacious nature they take pride in.

Captain Kyle would be the hero, completing the comeback for the Kings with the overtime winner to close out the game and the series over the Powell River Kings, but it was not easygoing to get there.

Two periods of scoreless hockey, where the Spruce Kings outshot Powell River 26-11, meant a decisive third period was on the horizon.

In the only period where Powell River led in shots, they also scored first. A tough goal if you’re a Spruce Kings fan, as a point shot bounced off a pair of Prince George players before beating DeBrouwer to give the Kings the lead.

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When the clock dipped below two minutes, the Spruce Kings had to pull the goalie, and it ended up paying off. Dylan Anhorn, who’d picked up four assists in the past four games, scored his first of the playoffs to tie the game and send it into overtime.

In the extra frame, Ethan de Jong’s shot bounced off the boards and right to Kyle Johnson who put the series-clinching goal in the cage to make Spruce Kings history as the first team to ever advance to the BCHL Finals.

Both goalies cracked the three stars, as Prince George’s DeBrouwer made 29 of 30 stops in the win and Powell River’s Matteo Paler-Chow had to make 46 saves in the losing effort.

Now that the Spruce Kings have won the Royal Rumble, they’ll await their Fred Page Cup counterparts. It will be either the Wenatchee Wild or the Trail Smoke Eaters. That series is going to game 6 on Friday night with Wenatchee leading 3-1.