As Nanaimo Clippers sailed out of Powell River on Saturday night they must have been asking themselves, “What the heck just happened?”
Nanaimo, the highest scoring team in BC Hockey League, had just been corralled 3-1 and 3-0 in back-to-back games by Powell River Kings, owners of an uncharacteristically high goals-against average near five.
The answer for the Clippers would have been that the Kings focused on one opponent, studied video, brought in goalie coach Jeff Battah and, quite frankly, were sick of under-performing.
On Halloween night a small crowd of 536 was treated to a close hockey game that wasn’t clinched until 19:47 of the final period when newly acquired forward Brent Lashuk scored into an empty net.
Kings opened the scoring at 6:22 of the first period on Nic Gomerich’s goal but surrendered the lead when Nanaimo scored on the power play at 4:04 of the second.
Chippy play in the middle period helped the Kings to regain the lead when Stephen Hiff rapped in a rebound on the power play at 9:21.
From there the Kings continued to out-hit and out-hustle the Clippers until Lashuk’s insurance goal.
Of the trade for Lashuk, head coach and general manager Kent Lewis said, “I think both clubs got what they needed. Jarryd [Leung] needed a jumpstart and it wasn’t happening here. We needed a big power forward and Brent showed us that tonight.”
Also added to the roster after main camp, Gomerich, a Nanaimo native, is settling into life in Powell River.
“You can really feel our defence coming too,” he said. “The last couple of games have been a bit scrambly but today it felt good and it led to good offence.”
There was a sense that the Kings played more like a team on Friday. “Kent preaches it a lot that we have a good team in here and I think guys are really starting to believe it and that builds confidence,” said Gomerich.
Historically, winning the first of a back-to-back series can lead to a let down in the second game but Gomerich felt the Kings were hungry for a repeat performance.
“It’s obviously nice to get a win and the guys are all happy in there,” he said, “but we’ve got to dial it in here for the next game because tomorrow is just as big as this one.”
Kings backed up his statement with an even better effort on Saturday.
Still hitting and hustling, Powell River was full credit for a 3-0 shutout of the Clippers.
Jeremy Leclerc, Austin Kamer and Curtis McCarrick scored in each of the three periods and goalie Brett Magnus earned his second straight first star award when he stopped all 29 shots on goal.
“The shutout was huge,” said Magnus with a smile, “especially when we’ve been giving up too many shots and too many goals. It’s awesome and a confidence booster for sure. Everyone stepped up big. There’s not a guy in that locker room that didn’t battle his heart out this weekend.”
One of them was defenceman Leclerc who got the winner at 8:58 of the first period.
“I’m not sure where Nanaimo was on that goal,” he said. “I just had a lot of time on the point and a little bit of traffic screening the goalie so it’s pretty easy to get a goal when the goalie can’t see it. It was a good effort by everyone. Magnus played unbelievable this weekend and the [defence] was a lot better than it has been.”
Captain JJ Coleshaw coveted the two wins but emphasized the importance of the way the Kings won them. “Shutout is huge,” he said, “and it’s a boost to our confidence for sure.”
Among the reasons for the resurgence Coleshaw said, “The boys just got tired of being down and having crappy practices and wanted to have fun again and battle for each other. When we play our game we can be dominant and we found that this weekend.”
“I’m really happy,” said Lewis, calling it a complete effort. “Good in net, good on special teams and we were challenged by more than Nanaimo tonight and it’s frustrating but we stayed composed and I thought we did a very good job of that.”
Kings take their positive attitude on the road this week in Duncan on Friday, November 7, Victoria on Saturday, November 8, and Sunday afternoon, November 9, in Alberni.
Kings Scroll:
Goaltender Magnus was named BCHL Player of the Week. He stopped all but one of 67 shots by the Clippers and was named first star in both games. Kings’ forward Gomerich received an honourable mention with a goal and two assists.
