All good things must come to an end. A nine-game home stand that began late in January ended this past weekend as Powell River Kings entertained two top teams from the Mainland and Interior divisions. With the two games the team said farewell to their home fans until the playoffs.
On Friday night, Kings entertained Chilliwack Chiefs, who lead the Mainland Division. In the two teams’ first meeting back in November, the Kings surrendered a 2-1 lead with 31 seconds remaining and took a loss in overtime. The Kings fared only slightly better in their latest meeting.
An early Nick Nonis goal, just 2:04 in, gave the home side a 1-0 lead. It was the only scoring of the game until the third period when Liam Lawson and Kyle Betts extended the King’s lead to 3-0 early in the final frame.
A resilient Chilliwack team would battle in a frantic third period. Just 29 seconds after Betts’ goal, Chilliwack scored and added another two minutes later.
Adam Brubacher restored the Kings’ two-goal lead, making it 4-2 on the power play at 11:21, however a pair of Chilliwack goals late in the period, including the game-tying tally with just 14 seconds left, levelled the score at four, sending the game into overtime.
Despite a power-play opportunity, the Kings were unable to break the deadlock in the first overtime session.
Confusion reigned during the second overtime when the Kings were assessed a too-many-men penalty, a call that should have resulted in an automatic penalty shot, as per league rules in double overtime. Instead, officials awarded Chilliwack a two-minute power play that the Kings managed to kill off.
The team held on for a 4-4 tie, the first such result this season.
“It felt like a loss tonight, to blow that lead and miss out on two points” said forward Tristan Mullin. “You can’t classify a tie as a win; it’s a disappointing feeling.”
The third-period breakdown was also frustrating for Kings head coach Kent Lewis.
“You look at what we can do, and how we can play, and against some of the best teams in the league you come out and have success. You can’t take your foot off the pedal,” said Lewis. “When you have success, you can come to take it for granted and there’s such a fine line between confidence and overconfidence.”
Following a tightly contested exhibition floor-hockey game against the Powell River Vipers Special Olympics floor-hockey team on Saturday at Brooks Secondary, Powell River entertained Salmon Arm Silverbacks at Hap Parker Arena on Sunday afternoon to close out the home portion of their regular-season schedule.
Carter Turnbull gave the Kings a 1-0 lead through the first period with a power-play goal. Betts added a shorthanded marker early in the second for a 2-0 advantage.
Four unanswered Salmon Arm goals in 9:07 not only chased Kings starting netminder Jeff Smith but silenced the crowd in attendance.
Hunter Findlater stopped the flow of Salmon Arm traffic with his fifth goal of the season at 12:35 and the Kings skated to the intermission needing just one.
The team got it and more early in the third. Rylan Ball converted on a three-on-two to tie the game at four, then four minutes later Austin Kamer scored the eventual game winner on a shorthanded breakaway for a 5-4 victory. Stefan Wornig earned his eighth win of the season in relief of Smith, stopping 16 of 17 Salmon Arm shots.
“Our d-man stepped up and made a good play at the blue line and it was a fortunate bounce to me in the neutral zone, and allowed me to skate in for a chance,” said Kamer on the game winner. “I was thinking shot off the bat, but the puck was rolling so I went to my backhand and nothing opened up, so I threw the brakes on and was able to get it home.”
The win moved the Kings’ record to 22-5-1-1 at home, but wasn’t without frustration from the coaching staff.
“We were complacent; we were getting beat along the boards in the second period,” said Kings assistant coach Brock Sawyer. “Everything they got we gave to them. I thought we did a good job carrying the pace of the play throughout and generating our opportunities. We have to be sharper this late in the season; the second period we had today can’t happen again.”
The nine-game home stand ends with Powell River collecting 16 of a possible 18 points, going 7-0-1-1. Powell River remains in second place in the Island Division, six points behind Nanaimo and 10 ahead of Cowichan Valley.
Kings finish the regular season on the road beginning this weekend with a double-header against Nanaimo Clippers on Friday, February 19, and Saturday, February 20.
