Weekend recap is presented by Iris Optometry.
This past weekend marked the final two home games of the regular season for the Kings as they took on the Cowichan Valley Capitals who fighting for their playoff lives.
To start on Friday you could tell the Capitals we’re desperate coming out of the gate flying and would be rewarded the opening goal at 6:18 after the Kings won the faceoff in the offensive zone only for it to be stolen by the Caps who went in on a 2 on 1 that Oliver Salo finished to make it 1-0. The goal against would fire up the Kings as they would start to press and get the equalizer at 11:50 on a coast to coast goal from Casey Aman who scored his 9th. After getting their first goal the Kings would start to take control, they would look to jump in front but were denied a number of times by Jesse Pye who made numerous highlight reel saves in his BCHL debut. However, Pye couldn’t stop everything and Anthony Lucarelli would break the deadlock at 15:25 with a great move in front of the goal to score his 18th as the Kings held a 2-1 lead heading into the second.
In the second the Kings continued right where they left off and add two goals in the first 10 minutes to make it 4-1. First it was Turner Richards who finished off a 2 on 1 for his 4th, then Cam Symons would fire a loose puck in the slot past Pye for his 12th. Just 20 seconds after the Kings made a 3 goal game the Caps reduced back down to two we a long wrist shot from Luke Lavery went over Vanderkooi to make it 4-2. The Kings were not contend with a two goal lead and it would take long to extend it to four. Anthony Lucarelli would score his second of the game at 12:34 on end to end goal, then Parker Lalonde notched his 14th in a backdoor play on the power play to make it 6-2. The Capitals would contribute another goal to the scoring frenzy in the period at 15:17 by Kent Moors who scored his first BCHL goal on a long wrister as the Kings headed into the third with a 6-3 lead.
The Kings would continue to pile it on in the third, with Adam Mendelson scoring his 9th 2:19 after the Capitals turned it over in their own zone, then at 8:13 on the power play Anthony Lucarelli would complete the Hat-Trick after he knocked in the rebound from a Anthony Yu shot as it was now 8-3. Luke Lavery would add his second of the game at 13:27 but Jack Blanchett would score his 14th shortly later when he one timed the puck off a o-zone faceoff win to put 9 goals on the board. Ethan Dekay would score the 14th goal of the game late in the third but the deficit was too much for the Caps as the Kings came up with a 9-5 win.
Anthony Lucarelli would finish the game with 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists), Jack Blanchett had 4 points, and Karter McNarland had a trio of assists while Cam Symons, Casey Aman and Noah Eyre each had two points in the lopsided win.
After a dominate win on Friday they Kings would look to cap off the home schedule with one more victory vs the Capitals who were now in a do or die scenario where a loss in any form would eliminate them from playoff contention.
The start of the game was all Kings who picked up right where they left off, but Caps goalie Lucas Renaud was dialed in to start, but he Kings would solve him at 14:47. After a long offensive zone shift for the Kings, the Capitals were tired and struggled to clear the zone. Alexi Van-Houtte Cachero would steal the puck and find Anthony Lucarelli alone in front who did a spin-o-rama to get the shot off and it went in for his 21st and 4th on the weekend. It was 1-0 Kings after the first.
It would be the same story to start the second and they would extend the lead to two when Jack Blanchett scored another quick goal off at faceoff at 6:09 for his 15th then at 15:28 Cam Symons had a tremendous do it yourself goal that included a dazzling spin deke to score his 13th to make it 3-0. Now 3-0 leads have been a bit troublesome for the Kings over the last little bit losing in OT twice in the last seven games when having that lead. With the way the game was going it seemed that they would have no trouble finishing it off but the Caps were on their last leg and were desperate to keep there season alive. They would get their first of the game at 15:09 of the second on a power play when Quinn Disher scored with a shot from the left circle to give his team some life as they trailed 3-1 after two.
In the third the Capitals we’re giving it everything they had and would catch fire in the early portions of the period. First Logan Camp would score at 6:03, then a minute later Quinn Disher would get his second on a breakaway after he picked off a pass at his blue line, then a minute after that Luke Lavery would score to give the Caps the lead with a shot from the far wall. In the span of 2 minutes and 16 seconds the Capitals went from down two to up one in the third. The Kings did not want to suffer the same fate as in previous games with a 3-0 and were clawing to get the equalizer but they didn’t make it easy. With just over 6 minutes to go, Anthony Lucarelli would receive a 5 minutes major and a game misconduct for a blow to the head, giving the Caps a chance to put the game out of reach with a long power play. Knowing they we’re desperate for a goal the Kings would play aggressive on the penalty kill and would get their chance with 3:15 left when Alexi Van-Houtte Cachero stole the puck in the defensive zone, he would turn on the jets to go on a breakaway and would deke out Renaud to puck in the back of the net and to ignite the crowd at the Hap with a huge shorthanded goal to tie the game. The Kings would not allow the Capitals to score on their 5 minute power play as we headed to OT at the Hap.
In OT the Kings would win the opening faceoff and did not look back. They would posses the entire OT and got their moment 1:15 in. Alexi Van-Houtte Cachero would do a full lap in the offensive zone with the puck to draw away two Capitals, he would then find a open Dylan Hewlett on the right side who then passed to Karter McNarland in front. He would go to the backhand and the initial shot was stopped but he would put in the rebound to give the Kings the 5-4 win in OT and eliminating the Capitals from the playoffs in the process. The OT win would also be the first overtime win at home for the Kings since January of 2020.
The Kings would cap off their home schedule win an epic win as they finished 11-11-3-1 at the Hap this season. Now with a record of 19-24-5-3 the Kings have 3 games left all of them on the road with a 3 in 3 on the lower mainland this weekend. The trip will start Friday in Surrey vs the Eagles which will be a 1st round playoff preview at 7pm.
Massullo Motors Weekend Highlights | www.powellriverkings.com/highlights
