The Powell River Kings opened up their pre-season schedule with a 9-2 loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs at the Sunshine Coast Arena in Gibsons Sunday night.
The Chiefs scored early and often in the first period, finding the back of the net just 47 seconds into the game off the stick of Jordan Kawaguchi. Six minutes later Nolan Zweep scored to make it 2-0 before Kawaguchi scored his second of the game just 32 seconds later.
The Kings opened the scoring in the second period as Carter Turnbull cut the deficit down to 3-1 scoring on a rebound off Mark Sinclair just under six minutes into the frame.
Eight minutes later, Chilliwack regained their three-goal lead as Cole Poliziani tapped home a cross-crease pass to make it 4-1. A five-on-three power play was awarded to the Kings as they looked to cut into the lead again, but it was the Chiefs scoring shorthanded as Kristian Olischefski beat Matteo Pilar-Chow in the Kings net to make it 5-1. Pilar-Chow replaced Mitch Adamyk in the Kings net midway through the second period.
The Chiefs added to their lead as Kawaguchi and Thomas Lee scored late in the period to make it 7-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Once again the Kings opened the scoring in the third period as Turnbull scored his second of the game six minutes into the third. The Chiefs would finish off the scoring however, as Aaron O’Neill scored on the power play Olivier Arseneau rounded out the scoring in the game to make it a 9-2 final.
“We had a lot of young guys playing in their first Junior A game tonight and I think it was good for them to see the speed and skill at this level,” Kings assistant coach Brock Sawyer said. “We’ll reassess what happened here tonight but I think the biggest thing is just getting back to competing and guys figuring out what it takes to play at this level.”
The Kings are now off for the week until hey wrap up their pre-season schedule next weekend with two more road games, first in Duncan against the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday before playing the Port Alberni Bulldogs Sunday.
