by Glen Gibbs Peak Sports Powell River Kings’ six-game winning streak came to a screeching halt on the weekend with back-to-back losses against lower mainland rivals.
After taking care of Alberni Valley Bulldogs 4-1 on Friday, October 7 at Hap Parker Arena, Kings lost to Langley Rivermen 5-3 on Saturday evening and Coquitlam Express 4-3 Sunday afternoon.
Even with a hot streak to start the season, coach and general manager Kent Lewis knew there was a storm brewing. He said, after the Alberni win, “You go nine games including exhibition and you say ‘aw this winning is easy’ but it’s not. We’ve got a lot of guys that need to step up, and right now we’ve got some guys that are struggling.”
One of the steadiest Kings is Steven Schmidt who scored two shorthanded goals on Friday to lead his team to their sixth win in a row.
Schmidt’s and Cohen Adair’s penalty killing has been nothing less than stellar this year and his second shorthanded goal with a slim 2-1 lead to start the third period was a huge one.
“Cohen and I like to get on their defence right away and not give them any time,” he said, “and it worked out very well for us.”
Jon Jutzi and Evan Richardson scored the others and Jamie Phillips recorded his
third win by stopping 25 shots.
Kings took their undefeated record on the road early Saturday morning to play Langley, a team Powell River had shutout 3-0 and 5-0 a week earlier.
The Rivermen were anxious to redeem themselves for those two losses and out- hustled the Kings for a 5-3 decision Saturday night.
Craig Dalrymple scored twice on the powerplay to put the Kings up 2-1 after the first period, but the Rivermen fought back to tie it 3-3 after the second and scored twice in the third for the 5-3 final.
Adair got the Kings’ third goal and Sean Maguire suffered his first loss of the year in net.
“We update our video equipment to review games, clipping and whatnot,” said Lewis bitterly, “and it’s going to be put to work, there’s no question.
“From the pipes out defensively, aside from the good things on the powerplay, there was not enough tenacity, not enough heart and not enough grit. Not enough anything.”
Kings moved over to Coquitlam on Sunday for a 2 pm start and lost a close decision to the Express 4-3.
Coquitlam led 2-0 late in the second period but the Kings closed to within one goal when Daniel Schuler scored the team’s league-leading seventh shorthanded goal of the year at 19:52.
He got his second of the game to tie 2-2 at 1:51 of the third period but Coquitlam grabbed a two-goal lead in just over a minute to lead 4-2.
Richardson brought the Kings to within a goal at 9:38 of the third period but they couldn’t complete the comeback and Phillips joined Maguire with his first loss of the year with 18 saves in the net.
“Urgency is a key thing,” said Lewis, “and we’ve got a lot of guys with a lot to learn. If they want to play for a winning team they’ve got to learn how to help it win.”
Even with the two losses, Kings retain their first place status in the Coastal Conference. The bad news is that they will have to find their winning ways again on what looks to be the toughest part of their schedule.
“We’re going to take this weekend and learn from it,” said Lewis, “which is what you do during the regular season. They’ll learn that it’s not enjoyable being around a grumpy old fart like myself.”
Like it or not the players will be around their unhappy coach on a lengthy road trip that begins in Merritt on Thursday, October 13, then Coquitlam on Friday, October 14 and finally Chilliwack on Saturday, October 15.
