Powell River Kings’ road trip last week, with all of its peaks and valleys, was truly a microcosm of their season thus far.
They dug themselves a deep hole with a 4-1 loss to coastal rival Surrey Eagles on Wednesday but climbed out of it to rout Langley Rivermen 5-0 Friday.
Then the confident Kings came crashing back to earth with a 7-2 loss to Penticton Vees on Saturday but on Sunday got their first pre-Christmas break road win in years, 4-3 in overtime in Salmon Arm against the Silverbacks.
Injuries and referees were key in the opener. Referees called 25 minor penalties against the two teams including six straight against the Kings in the first period.
Surrey struck for three powerplay goals on starter Sean Maguire and skated to a relatively easy 4-1 win.
Kings were already without Evan Richardson who suffered a concussion against Victoria and the referee missed one when Maguire was mugged in the crease with eight minutes to go and had to leave the game favouring his right leg.
Surrey went three for 11 on the powerplay while the Kings came up empty in eight chances but finished with a 43-32 advantage in shots on goal. Matt Scarth scored the lone goal for the Kings.
Kings had a day off Thursday to regroup and they rebounded to completely dominate the Rivermen 5-0 and win their first game in four tries at Langley Event Centre.
Jon Jutzi, Teagan Waugh, Brenden Forbes, Cohen Adair and Carter Shinkaruk each scored once while Jamie Phillips blocked 27 shots and earned a first star for his fourth shutout of the year.
While there was joy on the bus once more, it was tempered with the loss of Daniel Schuler who suffered a leg injury and would not be available for the game in Penticton on Saturday.
That was a shame because the Kings would need every gun to go up against the Penticton arsenal which included 14 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) commitments and a handful of NHL (National Hockey League) draftees.
Any game plan against the BCHL’s number one team has to include discipline, 60 minutes of hustle and timely special teams play.
The best-laid plan became an uphill battle when Kings took a hooking penalty 18 seconds into the game and the Vees scored the first of three powerplay goals 17 seconds later.
In fact, the highly skilled Vees roared to a 7-0 lead before Jarryd Leung and Chris Williams could solve former King Michael Garteig late in the third period.
To add to their injured pride, Kings also lost the services of Tanner Cochrane who suffered a broken collarbone and the Kings faced a big challenge with a limited roster on Sunday afternoon in Salmon Arm.
Despite the setback, Jutzi scored an unassisted goal at 7:29 to give the Kings a 1-0 lead after the first period.
Scarth and Forbes each scored in the second to give their team some breathing room but Salmon Arm closed the gap to 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Protecting the lead became even more difficult with the loss of Jutzi who left the game in the second period after blocking a shot. Then captain Williams was handed a game misconduct and two-game suspension for a blow to the head major penalty.
The remaining Kings held the fort until the Backs pulled their goalie and with the extra man tied the game 3-3 at 19:18 with a ton of traffic and a loose puck in the slot.
Giving up the lead late in the last game of a long trip must not have gone over too well at the Kings bench because they came out hustling in the first overtime and Scarth rapped in the winner at 1:04.
Despite the roller-coaster ride, Kings 19-11-2-2 record is good enough for a second-place tie in the standings at the break and with the healthy return of key players they are poised to make a strong run for the playoffs.
They return to action on Thursday, December 29 in Coquitlam followed by their New Year’s Eve game and party starting at 5 pm on Saturday, December 31 at Hap Parker Arena.
DIVISION: Coastal Conference
TEAM GP W L T
Cowichan Valley 33 20 8 1
Surrey 32 19 9 1
Powell River 34 19 11 2
Nanaimo 33 16 12 0
Coquitlam 32 16 12 2
Victoria 35 17 18 0
Langley 33 12 19 1
Alberni Valley 30 11 17 2
