Game two of a mini three-game set against the Clippers goes tonight at the Hap Parker Arena. The Kings are buzzing and confident after a gritty, hard-working win last night. Here’s the rundown:
The Vitals
Game: Nanaimo Clippers vs Powell River Kings
Arena: Hap Parker Arena
Puck Drop: 7:30pm
Broadcast: Starting at 7:15pm live on 95.7 SunFM
The Numbers
Kings This Season vs Clippers: 3-0-0-0
Last Meeting: Kings defeated Clippers 3-0 (November 11th, 2011 at Hap Parrker)
Kings at Home: 9-0-1-0
Kings on the Road: 2-5-1-0
What’s What for the Kings
Jamie Phillips went about his business quietly, compiling 26 saves for his 2nd shoutout of the season, and will likely get the start again tonight against a Clippers side that is still looking for answers in Powell River. The King were shorthanded on the roster last night, dressing only 5 defencemen for the full 60 minutes. Chris Williams and Jon Jutzi took the bulk of the workload, and the Kings captain did a great job filling in the ‘big shot’ spot on the point, vacated by an injured Craig Dalrymple. Tonight will be a little easier, with Anthony Bonner and Robert Zadra coming in to spread the workload around.
Also in will be Sean Ramsay, who got an unexpected start last night after initially coming to Powell River to watch last night’s game and play tonight. He (as well as AP forward Jacob Dunlop) were a pleasent surprise, fitting very well into the Kings system and even creating a few scoring chances. James Neil also got the monkey off his back by scoring his first of the season after a few games of near misses.
What’s What for the Clippers
The Clippers were always ‘in’ this game, as they outshot the Kings for half the contest, but you got the feeling that they were never ‘in’ the game. Out of the 26 pucks they got on Jamie Phillips, perhaps only 2 or 3 were quality chances, forcing Jamie to make a good save. Even when the game was 1-0, both Andy Welsh and myself felt that the Kings weren’t in trouble. Many of the shots in the early part of the 3rd period were from outside the blue line, and the rest were from outside good scoring areas. To be better tonight, the Clippers must find a way to get into shooting lanes, find guys in front and not fire pucks from the side of the net.
What’s on the Broadcast tonight?
Another Light the Lamp feature in our 1st intermission, forward Brandon Tidy will have his turn on the microphone. In the 2nd intermission, we’ll continue our RBC Contenders series with Mike Feeney of the Battlefords North Stars in the SJHL. We’ll also talk to Kent Lewis about last night’s 2-1 OT win for Canada West over Sweden, and Sunday’s gold medal game. We’ll also talk with Jamie Phillips about last night’s effort, James Neil on his first of the season and Taylor Carmola on ringing that post and working a 5-man defensive system.
