Powell River Kings played three away games in two and a half days this past weekend and were in desperate need of some wins to stay near the top of their Island Division. Three games later, the Kings earned five of a possible six points in one of their most difficult road assignments of the season.
On Friday, the Kings ventured back to Prospera Centre in Chilliwack for the first matchup of the year against the Chiefs. The Kings had played at Prospera twice previously this season, at the BC Hockey League (BCHL) Showcase in September, and earned a pair of victories over Coquitlam and Surrey.
Friday was a tight, entertaining game that featured free skating and few whistles. Carter Turnbull opened the scoring on a short-angled wrister past the Chilliwack netminder in the first period.
Despite a dominant second period from Powell River, Chilliwack would score against the run of play, but Tristan Mullin gave the Kings the lead with 3:01 to play in the third. Unfortunately, Powell River couldn’t effectively play with the lead and surrendered a game-tying goal with 30 seconds left. Chilliwack went on to win 3-2 in their BCHL-best tenth straight game, handing the Kings their first loss in overtime this year. Jeff Smith stopped 31 shots in the loss.
“We played a really good game, I liked our effort,” said Kings head coach Kent Lewis. “When you dominate, you have to score and be ready around the net. Their goals came off some bad breaks, but on reflection it was a good road game from us.”
With one point on the weekend in the overtime loss, the Kings ventured to Merritt to play in the league’s smallest venue against a struggling Centennials team. The Kings got a pair of goals from Jake Kohlhauser and solos from Mullin, Turnbull, Austin Kamer and Mitchell Hawes en route to a 6-3 win. The victory is the first win for a Kings team in Merritt since the 2010/2011 season and just the fourth since 2002/2003. Smith rebounded for his 11th victory in net with a 29-save performance.
“That Merritt rink is really small, so any shot is a good shot, and I think we were very good at putting pucks on net tonight,” said Kohlhauser following the game. “I tried to be a bit more offensive tonight, jumping up in the rush and, when it’s there, to take advantage of it. There were a couple of plays where it was the right time to go up and it worked out.”
Following the Merritt game, the Kings bus travelled north for a Sunday afternoon date with the Prince George Spruce Kings. It was the second matchup between the two clubs this season after Powell River defeated Prince George, led by former Kings assistant Chad van Diemen, 6-2 on November 6.
Kings got scoring from up and down the lineup again with six different players contributing seven goals in a 7-3 win to sweep the BCHL matchup. Mullin scored a pair and now has goals in four straight games. Other tallies came from Turnbull, Kamer, Jeremey Leipsic, Kyle Betts and Jonny Evans. Smith backstopped the Kings for the sixth straight game, stopping 29 shots for his 12th win.
Following a disappointing third period on Saturday against Merritt where Powell River let the Centennials back into the game, the Kings responded by outshooting Prince George 22-9 in Sunday’s final frame.
“We were pretty tight in the third period [on Friday and Saturday]; we learned our lesson,” said Kings assistant coach Brock Sawyer. “We delivered a solid final 20, finding the back of the net in convincing fashion and took the game over.”
With two wins and an overtime loss on the road trip, the Kings record moves to 14-10-0-1 and places them close behind Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo in the Island Division with games in hand.
The team returns to Powell River to prepare for a six-game homestand that opens with a double-header against the Cowichan Valley Capitals at Hap Parker Arena on Friday at 7:15 pm and Saturday at 5 pm. The Kings are 0-4 against Cowichan this season but have yet to play them at home.
