Spruce Kings 6 Eagles 3

The Prince George Spruce Kings avenged a pre-holiday loss with a 5-3 victory over the Eagles Friday at the Prince George Coliseum.

Brent Lashuk scored three times for the home side, while Alex Murray made 28 saves, withstanding a late Eagles charge as Surrey dropped its fifth consecutive away fixture.

The Spruce Kings opened the scoring just after the 7-minute mark on a long-range effort from Skylar Pacheco, but Surrey equalized within a minute, when on a three-on-two rush Anthony Conti tucked home his second goal in as many appearances as an Eagle.

Prince George took the lead later in the opening frame when a centring pass banked in past Surrey netminder Devon Fordyce off the skate of Spruce King Brogan O'Brien.

The hosts added to their lead with a pair of second-period goals, the first from Justin Rai moments after Surrey blueliner Michael McEachern struck the crossbar on a breakaway at the other end.

Prince George's Lashuk scored the first of his three goals just over a minute later, before upping the hosts' lead to 5-1 1:17 into period three.

But Surrey crept back with a pair of third-period goals, first with Chase McMurphy scoring his first as an Eagle before Nathan Renouf niftily deflected a shot past Murray on an Eagles power-play with 3:30 remaining.

Lashuk rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Up Next: the two sides meet again Saturday in the back end of the two-game series.

Sandler to Nanaimo: before the game, the team announced forward Luke Sandler had been sent to the Nanaimo Clippers for future considerations. Sandler, 20, scored 5 times, adding 39 penalty minutes in 14 appearances in an Eagle uniform after returning to the BCHL from Muskegon in the USHL. Best of luck on the Island Luke!