Photo by Garrett James Photography
Coming off a 1-1-1 homestand the Kings headed down to the Lower Mainland for a pair of games at the BCHL Showcase one of the pinnacle events of the BCHL calendar with all 21 teams playing two games over 5 days in front of numerous college and NHL scouts.
Tuesday the Kings linked up with the Trail Smoke Eaters for and afternoon game the the Abbotsford Centre, the home of the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks. The Smoke Eaters started out with a 2-0 lead, but before the period ended the Kings caught fire. It started with Axel Löfgren going coast to coast to score his second with 2:09 left, then just over a minute later Joel Purdom scored to even it up at 2. Now tied, the Kings still had some more to say before the opening frame ended when Tommy Karmiris gave them the lead with less than a second left as the Kings suddenly took a 3-2 lead into the second.
Despite being handley outshot, Trail found ways to stay in the game and managed to score back to back goals to retake the lead by the 13 minute mark of the period. Down again the Kings found some more late period magic when Tre Peck set up Joel Purdom who knocked in his second of the game with 21 seconds left to make things all square 4-4 through 40 minutes.
In the third the Kings found early success when Marek Beaudoin tipped in a shot from Thomas Belzil at 1:54 to shift the lead back in favour of the Kings. The back and forth battle continued when the Smoke Eaters evened the score once again at 5:38 then midway through they would take control with two goals in 47 seconds to go up by two. That would end up being enough as the Smoke Eaters won 7-5. Final shots were 33-22 in favour of the Kings.
The Kings went back to work on Wednesday morning to kick off day four at the Showcase when they faced the defending Fred Page Cup Champion Surrey Eagles at the Chilliwack Coliseum in the first of four meetings this year. A scoreless first period would be highlighted by Vincent Lamberti who made a number of key stops to keep Surrey off the board as the Eagles out shot the Kings 15-7 in the opening frame.
The Eagles would take the lead in the second at 8:49 but less than three minutes later Wyatt Davis sprung Michael Mardula on a breakaway. He would put the moves on Colton Jugnauth and score his second of the season to tie it up at one. The deadlock didn’t last long as the Eagles took the lead back just over two minutes later to make it 2-1 heading to the third.
It didn’t take long in the third for Surrey to extend their lead, scoring 1:57 in on a power play to make it 3-1. The Kings continued to press in the third and started to take control but the high danger chances were hard to come by. In the final minute with the goalie pulled Calvin Beard set up Brendan Giles who finally scored his first BCHL goal in his 26th game to give the Kings a shot down by one with 30 seconds left. The Kings managed to get to good looks in the final moments but couldn’t finish as the Eagles won 3-2. Kings outshot 11-3 in the third and 31-28 overall.
Through 9 games the Kings a 1-6-2 as they turn their attention to and Island trip this weekend. Saturday they will be in Victoria at 6pm, then Sunday afternoon at 2pm they will take on the Bulldogs for the first time this year in Port Alberni.
The next home games for the Kings are Friday October 25th and 26th against the Prince George Spruce Kings who make their first visit to Powell River since 2019. Both games are at 7pm and its parents weekend at the Hap as the players parents will be in town to cheer on the boys. Get your tickets online at tickets.powellriverkings.com
Massullo Motors Highlights – www.powellriverkings.com/highlights
