The gas tank was truly empty when the final buzzer sounded in Nanaimo on Sunday, November 11, as the Powell River Kings slumped to back-to-back losses on the tail end of a six-game swing away from home.
The latest three-game road trip started in Duncan against Cowichan Valley on Friday, November 9. The teams had split the opening two games of the season series, with Powell River winning at home and Cowichan returning serve a few weeks later.
Capitals jumped out to a lead midway through the first period and held that advantage throughout the opening frame. Fortunes turned in the second period as Kings took advantage of a Cowichan team that leads the BC Hockey League in almost every penalty-related statistic, and turned in a season-best performance on the powerplay.
First, Levi Glasman tipped home a Neal Samanski shot for his first goal as a King, then followed that up with his second four minutes later by burying a rebound. Two minutes later, Ryan Brushett found a seam with a shot from the faceoff circle for the third powerplay goal in as many chances in the period.
Brushett added another in the third period and Ethan Schmunk scored late to give the Kings a 5-2 victory. Mitch Adamyk stopped 31 shots for his ninth win of the season.
“Coming into the weekend [head coach Tyler] Kuntz said he wanted us to be more opportunistic on the powerplay, more of a threat,” said Glasman. “Samanski, Brushett and I are starting to find each other more, starting to click, so that’s helped.”
Powell River and Alberni Valley began their season series with an evening game at Weyerhaeuser Arena on Saturday, November 10. Kings were shutout for the first time this season by a score of 4-0 score. Hayden Missler took the loss, stopping 23 shots.
“Energy would be the biggest thing we missed tonight,” said assistant coach Brock Sawyer. “We need to come and play with a lot more passion, take pride in our game and putting the jersey on. We just skated around for 60 minutes without any intensity and energy, and they took advantage of that.”
Powell River looked to regroup Sunday afternoon in the sixth matchup of the season against Nanaimo. Prior to the game, the team attended a Remembrance Day service in Parksville, then both teams paused for a moment of silence prior to opening faceoff.
A short bench for Powell River, with several affiliates in the lineup, became even shorter early in the game as Kings lost Samanski on the opening shift following a big open-ice hit, then defender Ben Wozney midway through the period after a check from behind.
However, similar to Friday in Cowichan, it was the powerplay that triggered Powell River forward. Glasman scored his third powerplay goal of the weekend late in the period, but Nanaimo countered inside the final minute for a 1-1 score after 20 minutes.
Glasman put the Kings in the lead again with another powerplay marker midway through the second and local affiliate Nic Porchetta notched his first goal in the BCHL with a gritty play around the net, burying his own rebound for a 3-1 lead heading into the final period.
That is when the gas tank hit empty for the Kings.
Powell River conceded four straight goals en route to a 5-3 loss. It was the first time this season the team has lost a game when leading by two goals or more, and when leading after 40 minutes.
“We worked hard to get on the powerplay and were able to capitalize on that tonight, that’s a huge positive for our group going forward to have the powerplay contributing,” said Sawyer. “But that third period got away from us. We were obviously pretty tired, but you still have to find a way to compete hard and battle out there and we just couldn’t do that this afternoon.”
After six straight games on the road, where the Kings posted a record of 2-4, Powell River returns home for seven straight games prior to the Christmas break.
The homestand begins Friday, November 16, with Powell River hosting Prince George in a rematch of last year’s BCHL semi-final series. The next night, Kings host defending national Junior A champion Chilliwack Chiefs.
Puck drop is 7 pm both nights.
