Weekend Recap is presented by Iris Optometry.
The Kings were back home after the holiday as the Coquitlam Express came to town. The two game set would see the Kings debuts of Vit Beran and Jaxon Fuder and also marked the first home games for new head coach Glenn Anderson. Coquitlam took the first two meetings of of the season back at home but the Kings were determined to kick off the second half off the season guns a blazing.
It would be another opening goal for the Kings in the first period on Friday as Will Jones opened the scoring with a wrister off the rush. The goal would be the 5th of the year for Jones who was playing in his first game at the Hap since November 3rd. The lead extended to two not long after when Christian Maro set up Simone Dadiè who was making his Hap Parker debut and he buried the one timer to for his second on the season. Coquitlam would get on the board when Luke Vardy knocked in a rebound off a Cole Melady shot as it was 2-1 Kings after one period.
The Kings held on to the lead through the second period as we fast forward to the third. The third period would start with some fisticuffs as new King Jaxon Fuder dropped the gloves with Cale Colwell. Fuder landed right after right in a unanimous decision that won the hearts of the 900 plus fans at the Hap. Then seconds later Kailus Green would fight Logan Morrell in another spirited tilt that saw Green come out on top as the Hap erupted in applause. With everything settled down both teams got back to business. Coquitlam took control in the period but the Kings stood their ground defensively. With just over 2 minutes left the Express pulled their goalie for the extra attacker and it paid off as James Shannon scored with just over 2 minutes left with a shot from the right circle to send the game to OT.
In OT the Kings won the opening faceoff and didn’t look back, never giving up the puck. It only took 20 seconds to end it when Will Jones entered the offensive zone and shot it from the right corner and the puck slid underneath Adam Manji for the game winning goal!
Will Jones finished with 2 goals in his return to the Hap, Christian Maro had 3 asssists and Owen Crudale made 31 saves for his first win since October.’
The teams did battle again on Saturday for the final game of 2023 as the Kings looked to win back to back games for the first time this season.
It would be a frantic start to the game with the Kings carried over the momentum controlling the play but Adam Manji was solid in net early for Coquitlam. It wouldn’t be until late in the first period until the scoreless tie was broken. At 17:03 Will Jones fed Rémi Gélinas who got off a great shot in a tight space for his second as a King. The home side outshot the Express as they took the one goal lead into the second.
Coquitlam started to find their groove in the second but two mistakes cost them dearly. First on an Express power play, Asher Wites would clear the defensive zone. Adam Manji would come out and play it and pass to Tyler Rubin who mishandled the puck and lost control and it hit Manji and went in the net for the own goal which ended up being the first shorthanded goal the Express as given up all season. Then midway the Kings would receive another gift from the Express when Luke Vardy send a pass up the middle from his own zone. It was picked off by Anthony Lucarelli inside the blueline and quickly got the shot off and it went in for his 12th. Coquitlam wouldn’t let the bad goals affect them too much as the continued to press. The would get on the board in the final minute with a power play marker from Luke Vardy as the Kings held a 3-1 lead heading to the third.
In the the third we would see another strong push from the Express but once again the Kings and Owen Crudale were up to the challenge. The Kings would get the extra insurance marker at 9:50 shorthanded when Anthony Lucarelli stole the puck from in own zone and went down the ice with Adam Mendelson. Lucarelli would flip it to Mendelson who one timed in his 6th for make it 4-1. The Express would pull their goalie very early to try and get back in the game but the Kings didn’t let them comeback this time as Christian Maro would officially seal the deal with a empty netter for his 8th as the Kings won 5-1.
Anthony Lucarelli finished the game with 3 points and is now only 1 point away from 100 in his BCHL career. With the goal Christian Maro extended his point streak to 6 games and Owen Crudale capped off a great weekend with another 31 save performance.
With 2 wins at home the Kings moved up to 8th in the Coastal Conference with a record of 7-19-3-0 and sit just one point up on the Capitals and two points behind Langley.
Up next for the Kings they head to the Island to kick off 2024. They will be in Victoria on Friday to face the Grizzlies and 7pm, then Saturday they take on the Capitals at 6pm
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