The Langley Rivermen travel to BC’s Northern Capital this coming weekend for massive pair of contests against the Prince George Spruce Kings in their final two meetings of the season.
The Rivermen played just one game this past Friday, a heartbreaking 7-6 overtime loss to the Cowichan Capitals, with Langley holding a 5-0 lead going into the third.
The Spruce Kings are coming off a road trip to the lower mainland on Thursday in Coquitlam and Friday in Surrey, before finishing their third game in four days with a visit to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Prince George lost 4-1 on Thursday against the Express but were able to rattle off a come from behind 3-2 overtime win in Surrey Friday, and dropped their final game of the road trip Salmon Arm 3-1.
The magnitude of this weekend’s matchup could not be overstated, Prince George trails Langley by just three points for the 8th and final playoff spot in the BCHL’s coastal conference standings. Both teams’ have played the same amount of games at 46, with Langley having the season series edge 4-1. Langley have 6 games remaining on the schedule after the Prince George road trip, with four being at home. Two of the remaining four games at home are against the coastal conference leading Chilliwack Chiefs, with the Rivermen also facing a road trip to Alberta midway through the month, so it will be a difficult last month of the season for Langley.
PRINCE GEORGE PLAYER TO WATCH
#21 Will Moore – the first year Spruce King has been key to the Prince George resurgence of late, collecting three goals and two assists over his last five games, including the overtime winner on Friday in Surrey. The RIT commit will need to be key for his team in this weekend set against the Rivermen, four of his 15 goals have come against Langley.
LANGLEY PLAYER TO WATCH
#21 Aidan Souligny – normally this is a section to preview offensive players, but the Boston University committed defenceman has been strong on the back end for Langley in the last few games. He has formed a key pairing with newest Rivermen d-man Owen Thomas, and has even contributed 7 assists in his last 7 games. Friday will also be his 85th career BCHL game, against a team he played 17 games with to end the year last year, and 10 games at the start of this year before ending up in Langley via Blackfalds.
You can watch both games on FloHockey by clicking the away feed, with the voice of the Rivermen Gideon Hill. If you do not have a FloHockey subscription, you can listen to audio of the game for free at https://langleyrivermenjuniorhockey.mixlr.com.
