Despite a great start and a flurry of furry friends on Teddy Bear night at Hap Parker Arena, Powell River Kings didn’t accomplish all that they wanted on Friday night.
They lost a close game to Victoria Grizzlies 3-2 but hundreds of fans and one goal judge thought the Kings scored a goal that should have counted in a late game comeback.
Fans and teddies had barely taken their seats when Stephen Hiff scored at 4:19 with the man advantage.
Kings’ powerplay ranks third behind Merritt Centennials and Victoria at 23 per cent. When Matt Scarth fed Evan Richardson, the set-up expert slid a pass across the slot to Hiff who one-timed it by the Grizzlies’ goalkeeper.
Teddy bears and Rona Building Centre volunteers hit the ice and with the help of the Kings collected the furry friends which were loaded into a truck and whisked off to Christmas Cheer Committee hamper fund and Salvation Army.
The brief delay allowed the Grizzlies to catch their collective breath and they regrouped on a powerplay of their own with a shot from the point and a fortunate rebound at 8:01 to tie the game 1-1.
Zach Urban let a slapshot go from the point, but goalie Jonah Imoo couldn’t control the rebound and Myles Powell scored the go-ahead goal at 10:20.
Neither team scored in the second, but as the game went on it was evident the Grizzlies were going to keep the pressure on the Powell River defence.
Victoria was rewarded when a puck, thrown into the crease from deep in the corner, went off a Kings’ defenceman at 12:27 to make it 3-1.
Down by two, Kings kicked into another gear and a minute later thought they had scored. Matt Dupont’s shot eluded the goalie, skittered along the goal line and then briefly travelled inches over it.
The goal judge, who had a clear view, snapped the light on right away, but the referee, who was on the other side of the net, waved it off.
Play continued until the next whistle a minute later, but even after a discussion with goal judge, Doug Thiesen, the referee stuck to his call.
“I told him it was in the goal and the referee said ‘point to where you saw it,’” said Thiesen. He did and added, “It was in about a foot. It was on that side, came across [the line] and went back out.”
From a player’s point of view on the ice, Drew Dorantes said, “I tipped it between the goalie’s legs and Matt Dupont kind of smashed it in. I didn’t see it but [Dupont] told me it was in by at least a foot so I don’t think he’d lie to me.”
Kings sucked it up and on the very same shift Dorantes and Dupont combined to get the score to 3-2 with a nice two-on-one effort.
In the end, however, the Grizzlies were successful in holding on and left Powell River with their first win against the Kings since an overtime playoff victory in the 2010-11 post-season.
“Credit to Victoria who came in here and played a very good game,” said coach and general manager Kent Lewis. “They forced us not to play the game we needed to play which resulted in a lot of turnovers inside the zones early.”
Kings’ comeback sputtered on late powerplay opportunities that failed.
“They didn’t resemble anything that we’ve ever drawn up or practiced,” Lewis said, “and that’s what happens when you come out of your skin. If you are in a pressure situation it’s how you handle that and we didn’t tonight.”
Despite the blown call by the referee, Kings’ Dorantes said thoughtfully, “It could have been a game changer but you can’t look at it that way. We made some mistakes that we probably shouldn’t have made tonight and it cost us.”
Hopefully it’s part of a learning curve for the young team, which travels one more time before the Christmas break.
On Friday, December 14, they will be in Surrey to play against the Eagles, moving onto Coquitlam Express on Saturday and finishing at 2 pm on Sunday, December 16 in Langley to play the Rivermen.
