It was just one of those weekends. Not a whole lot went right for the Kings and they ran into 2 good opponents, the 2nd being a determined Coquitlam side which handed the Kings their 2nd loss of the season, a 4-3 decision Sunday Afternoon.
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The Express opened the scoring in the 1st period through Brody Shaw, a goal which would be the only one of the opening frame, the Express going into the intermission up 1-0 and outshooting the Kings by a 2:1 ratio. That trend continued into the 2nd period, when the Express doubled their lead early through Mitch Nardi, the assist going to Brody Shaw and the Kings were down by 2. But cue the comeback, and in typical King fashion, it happened short handed. Dan Schuler’s work on the forecheck paid off as he stripped the puck in the corner, walked out and roofed a puck with 7.7 seconds left in the 2nd period that goaltender Khaleed Devji got most of, but it had enough to trickle across the line to cut the lead to 1.
In the 3rd, the Kings got on the board first in the final period, as Dan Schuler grabbed the puck from a scrum on the side boards and fired a shot from the slot that beat Devji, Kings had come back to tie the game at 2. Express poured on the pressure and on a rush from their own zone, Alex Petan dangled into the slot and beat Jamie Phillips high with a bullet, Express took the lead back 3-2. They would again double their lead a few minutes later, as Brody Shaw’s 2nd goal of the game made it a 4-2 contest and all the work the Kings had done to get back on even terms was out the window.
Midway through the 3rd, Evan Richardson capped off some good offensive pressure, getting a feed from Cohen Adair in the high slot and firing a laser beam into the back of the net to cut the lead to 1. Even a powerplay at the end of the game couldn’t give the Kings the goal they needed, as the Express held on during 1:30-ish of 6-on-4 play from the Kings. 4-3 the FInal, Kings fall to 6-2 this season and are 1-2 on the road.
Three Stars of the Game
- Brody Shaw (Express) – 2 goals, 1 assist
- Mitch Nardi (Express) – 1 goal
- Dan Schuler (Kings) – 2 goals
Next action for the Kings is Thursday night in Merritt, as they again play 3 games in 3 nights. Puckdrop is at 7:00pm, but you can join me on the pre-game show, beginning at 6:45pm. The Kings then return to Coquitlam on Friday night, before visiting Chilliwack for the only time this season on Saturday to wrap up the road trip.
