Powell River Kings came as close as they can get to a perfect road performance last weekend with a 6-4 win in Surrey, 4-3 overtime loss in Penticton and 3-2 win in Trail.
Five out of six possible points was quite an accomplishment for BC Hockey League’s (BCHL) top team given the distance travelled and the tight two-and-a-half day schedule.
They began on Friday against last year’s first Western Canada Cup champions, Surrey Eagles, and took a period to shake out the legs from the six-hour trip.
Eagles took a 2-1 lead after the first period but the warmed up Kings took it to them in the second with three unanswered goals to go up 4-2.
Surrey scored early on the powerplay in the third to close the gap to 4-3 and then had a chance to tie on another powerplay opportunity just a few minutes later.
Stephen Hiff, however, turned the tables on the Eagles with a steal and smooth backhand deke on his breakaway to restore the two goal lead 5-3 at 7:01.
Surrey made it exciting with their third powerplay goal at 10:41 but Kings’ leading scorer Kurt Keats clinched the win with an empty-netter at 19:43.
Brian Rideout, Jarryd Leung and Jarid Lukosevicius with two had the other Kings’ goals while Jonah Imoo stopped 29 of 33 shots for his fifth win of the year.
Kings climbed right back on the bus after the game for a ride to Merritt where they stayed overnight before the game against Penticton Vees on Saturday.
The Vees, with 15 committed players on their roster, were unbeaten at home and, like the Kings, rely on a stingy defensive game with plenty of depth on the roster and strong goaltending.
No surprise then that each side had just eight shots in a tight opening period that yielded just a single goal by Kings’ Ryan Scarfo at 9:33 on the powerplay.
Vees pushed back in the second period with a 14-7 edge in shots and tied the game 1-1 late at 18:58 to set the stage for a dramatic finish.
Kings struck for two goals, one each from Luke Nogard at 8:23 and Leung at 11:37, to go up 3-1 and they looked poised to win their first game ever at the South Okanagan Entertainment Centre (2008).
Vees, however, dashed the celebration with two goals in the final minute and another in the second overtime to steal a 4-3 victory.
No time to dwell on the missed point as the Kings went directly to Castlegar to wind up the exhausting trip to play against Trail Smoke Eaters on Sunday afternoon.
Kings came out smoking against the Smoke Eaters and quickly established a 2-0 lead on goals from Scarfo and Hiff after the first period.
Trail took advantage of a couple of powerplay opportunities to tie 2-2 midway through the second, but hardworking Nogard dug out a rebound and buried, what proved to be, the winner at 14:28.
From there the Kings secured the win with a 39-19 dominance on the shot clock and a solid performance from goalie Jeff Smith for his fifth win.
Considering the disappointment suffered less than 24 hours ago in Penticton, Kings responded with a very strong answer under extremely difficult conditions.
Five points and a very good road performance made the long trip home a little easier but a lengthy homestand can really add to the Kings’ cushion in the standings.
The BCHL leaders will enjoy home cooking and the friendly confines of Hap Parker Arena for 10 straight games beginning Friday against this year’s Royal Bank Cup hosts.
Vernon Vipers visit 7:30 pm Friday, October 18 and then Cowichan Valley Capitals makes their first visit to Powell River at 1:30 pm on Sunday, October 20.
Kings Scroll:
Keats (2), Scarfo (7) and Lukosevicius (9) crack the top 10 scorers of the BCHL. The powerplay is first at 23.53 per cent and the penalty is fourth at 86.57 per cent. Country-wide, Kings fell one step in Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings from fourth to fifth.
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