From the looks of it the Kings aren’t likely to get a night off this year as they defend their conference title.
They fought off the tenacious Bulldogs from Alberni Valley to win 4-1 and extend their winning streak to six games.
This game started like all the others at Hap Parker Arena this year with no goals and pretty ragged play in the first period.
Both goalies had to come up with a couple of one on one saves but the new scoreboard showed 0-0 with each side getting 10 shots apiece.
Kings got on the board first when Evan Richardson won the faceoff back to Jutzi who took a couple of steps in and ripped a wrist shot by the glove of AV goaltender Fenkell at 1:17 on the powerplay.
AV had a geat chance to tie it up when Tironese passed the puck to Dorais in the crease but Phillips was there to make the save.
Kings went the other way and Brenden Forbes seemed to beat the whistle when he attempted to poke the puck away from Frenkell on a rush but the ref ruled otherwise and the Kings were shorthanded.
On the ensuing penalty kill hard working Cohen Adair poked the puck loose and Steven Schmidt roared up the ice, blew around the defenceman and backhanded the puck high into the net to pick the Kings up 2-0 at 13:05.
Alberni didn’t quit and put the heat on the Kings for a good two minutes before they executed a nice centering pass to Yan Kalashnikov in the slot who beat a defenseless Phillips at 17:30.
Kings took a penalty right at the end of the second period and what happened to start the third would turn the game around for good.
Instead of the Dogs coming to the Kings, the Kings took it to the Dogs.
Schmidt chased an AV defenseman behind his net and nailed him, pinned the puck until he could throw it back to Dalrymple and then when Dalrymple sent a hard wrister at the net, Schmidt got the tip to get his second shortie of the night.
His goal at 0:11 was a real backbreaker for Alberni and they seemed to sag a little under the unexpected goal by the Kings.
At 7:01 Evan Richardson put the Kings up by three when he took a great pass from James Neil and went the length of the ice to put the moves on Fenkell and fire the puck into the net
A couple of scuffles took place in the latter half of the period but nothing serious as the Kings killed almost four minutes down a man.
They still haven’t allowed a goal on the kill and have scored six shorthanded goals so far this year.
As impressive as those stats are coach Kent Lewis is unimpressed with what he has seen so far this year.
"Give Alberni credit," he said later, "I think for the most part they outworked us, they outhit us and it wasn’t very good on our part for most of it."
"Jamie (Phillips) played well," he said, "we had some lapses in our defensive zone coverage and he needed to come up big and he did."
There were some good parts though and he said, "the third period was better."
It was much better and started on special teams with a huge effort at 0:11 seconds by Steven Schmidt.
"We came out of the room and we knew we had to get a big kill because they’ve got a pretty good powerplay," he smiled after the game.
He and Adair have given fits to the opposition’s powerplays this year and his goal early in the third was the nail in the coffin for the Dogs.
Kings will get up early on Saturday to make the trip to the mainland for games against Langley on Saturday night and then Coquitlam on Sunday afternoon.
Ron Armitage Three Stars:
1. Steven Schmidt
2. Jamie Phillips
3. Max Fenkell
