Powell River Kings lost a couple of games to Coquitlam Express over the weekend, 3-2 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday, bringing their 10-game winning streak to a screeching halt.
Neither loss was for lack of effort but when it comes to the Express it seems like any mistakes become chances or even goals.
That was never more apparent than in game one where the Kings played well enough to win but suffered the consequences of goals scored on turnovers.
Their start was excellent on Saturday and they opened the scoring on the power play when Craig Dalrymple hit Steven Schmidt by the side of the net and he rapped it in at 17:28 of the first period.
Coquitlam got a power-play goal of its own at 2:41 of the second and then took the lead when Alex Petan scored his second of the game on a shot from behind the goal line that was deflected and squirted in on the short side at 5:16.
Not to be outdone by deflections, Kings’ Teal Burns had a Jordan Benton slapshot from the point go in off his skate to tie the game 2-2 a minute later.
That’s the way it stayed until Coquitlam’s Mitch Nardi nudged in a puck down low to score the winner at 12:42 of the third.
“Two very bad turnovers inside our blue line—two goals,” said Kent Lewis, head coach and general manager. “They got two gifts off stupid turnovers and we’ve got to be smarter than that. That’s what cost us the game.”
Sunday was a charitable day for the Kings in more ways than one.
Adams Concrete and Taw’s Cycle and Sports guaranteed a $1,000 50/50 and won the draw with the top-up tickets they purchased. They gave $250 to the Kings and the balance to a very grateful Shannon Goss, who is battling Mytochondrial Myopathy.
In addition, a large TV was donated to raffle off with the proceeds going directly to the Shannon Goss Compassion Project account at First Credit Union.
What with all the giving on Sunday afternoon, Kings gave the Express another opportunity to capitalize on a couple of turnovers and sweep the weekend set.
After serving a penalty, Coquitlam’s Clinton Atkinson joined a rush to feed Petan for the game’s first goal at 7:07 in the first period.
Kings evened the score 1-1 when Cohen Adair scored at 11:47 but in the second period Alexander Kerfoot scored twice in five minutes to put the Kings in a hole.
In the third period, Kings carried the play and even pulled their goalie for an extra attacker with two minutes to go but couldn’t generate a good chance to close the gap.
No one wanted to score more than Matt Scarth, who had his grandparents in for weekend from Saskatchewan, but about Coquitlam he said, “They’re capitalizing on their chances and we aren’t. It’s really just being stronger in our own zone and not giving them those easy plays in front of the net.”
The two wins give Coquitlam a 6-1-1 record against the Kings and one would think the Kings might want to avoid the Express as the top four teams jostle for position.
Not so, said Scarth. “It’s being ready to play and see who wants it more. Come playoffs, if we do see them in the first round, we’re going to have to put on another game face and show them something they haven’t seen this year. I’d love to see them in the first round,” he said.
The playoffs are still nine games away but the Kings inch closer to them with a pair of games against Victoria Grizzlies at 7:30 pm on Saturday, February 18 and 1:30 pm on Sunday, February 19 at Hap Parker Arena.
DIVISION: Coastal Conference
TEAM GP W L T OTL PTS
Surrey 49 30 10 2 7 69
Powell River 51 32 15 2 2 68
Cowichan Valley 51 29 15 1 6 65
Coquitlam 50 29 17 2 2 62
Nanaimo 49 22 18 0 9 53
Alberni Valley 48 18 27 2 1 39
Victoria 51 19 31 1 0 39
Langley 48 16 27 1 4 37
