Good things come when you least expect them. That old saying held true over a three-in-three road trip for Powell River Kings last weekend, highlighted by a lopsided, landmark win against a bitter division rival, plus a gutsy one-goal victory to take four of a possible six points on Vancouver Island.
The trip started in Cowichan Valley on October 19 and followed a 4-1 win for Kings over the Capitals at Hap Parker Arena a few weeks prior. Team confidence was high heading into a return matchup at Island Savings Centre.
Kings started strong, building a convincing lead in shots and chances early in the game. However, Cowichan opened the scoring on a powerplay goal to lead 1-0. Capitals doubled the lead late into the second period after a Kings defensive breakdown before Matt Fawcett scored midway through the third, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Despite some great chances late in the game, Kings failed to find an equalizer and eventually fell 3-1 courtesy of an empty-net goal for the home side. Hayden Missler took the loss, stopping 27 of 29 shots.
“We had 44 shots, they had about 23, we tripled them in scoring chances,” said head coach Tyler Kuntz. “We’re getting all these chances, we’ve been out-chanced in one game we’ve played all year and we ended up winning that game. The message going forward is that scoring is hard, and sometimes you don’t get the one-timers or the pretty plays; sometimes you have to pay the price and Fawcett was an example of that today.”
Following the loss, Powell River looked to regroup against Island Division-leading Victoria Grizzlies on October 20, a team featuring 2019 NHL Entry Draft top prospect Alex Newhook.
Victoria took an early lead with Newhook converting an early chance, but Saturday was a night where almost every shot Powell River players directed at goal went in.
Kings scored six goals on 13 shots in the first period, five more on 11 shots in the second and ran away with a 12-5 win. Mitch Williams, Rowan Miller and Fawcett all scored a pair of goals, with Neal Samanski, Ethan Schmunk, Ben Thomas and Ryan Brushett also scoring.
The win was the largest against Victoria since January 2012, and the most goals scored by a Kings team since January 2017.
“It was a crazy one,” said Miller, who scored his first goals in junior hockey. “I’ve never seen anything quite like that in my hockey days, but it was a fun game to play where everything was going in and it was nice to get that sort of result against a team like Victoria.”
With the result a foregone conclusion well before the final buzzer, Kings used the game as an opportunity to try some younger players against one of the best lines in the BCHL.
“We had some younger guys out who got the opportunity to play against some of the top players in this league, which is great experience for them,” said assistant coach Brock Sawyer. “They got scored on a couple of times, but it’s a great learning experience and tells them we trust them to go out when push comes to shove and play key roles moving forward.”
Powell River’s road trip wrapped on October 21 in Nanaimo. After a scoreless first period, Kings took a 1-0 lead in the second on a goal through Brushett. Kings extended the lead to a 2-0 advantage via Jayden Lee’s first goal as a King early into the third and looked set to earn their first shutout of the season before a snipe beat Missler to make it 2-1, a score that stood through 60 minutes.
With the wins, Powell River’s record moves to nine wins and six losses on the season ahead of a two-game homestand this weekend. Kings entertain Vernon on Friday, October 26 at 7 pm, and Nanaimo on Saturday, October 27, at 5 pm.
Notes:Kings defenceman Jayden Lee has committed to Quinnipiac University for the 2020/2021 season. Lee has played 44 BCHL games split between Langley last season and Powell River this year. He has two goals and nine assists to date. Lee will join Fawcett with the Bobcats after junior, and follows in the footsteps of former Kings Michael Garteig and Clay Harvey, who also attended Quinnipiac.
