Looking for redemption from Monday’s 4-0 loss to Surrey the Kings were back at it Friday night at the Hap to take on the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Kings would get off to a great start in this one creating a majority of the scoring chance early on and 8:21 in they we’re rewarded as Jason Marsella blocked a clearing attempt and found Ethan Riesterer by himself in the slot who fired it home to get the Kings on the board first. The goal would be Riesterer’s 2nd of the season ending a 19 game goalless drought. The Bulldogs wouldn’t take long to answer and Cole Melady tipped in a pass from Ethan Bono over Matthias Smith to tie it up at one.
After a solid 1st period the Kings would look to regain the lead in the 2nd period and they would do just that 2:39 in as Mark D’Agostino and Max Potvin went in on a 2 on 1. D’Agostino who took the pass from Potvin just before the blue line opted to keep it and shoot and it paid off as he beat Hobie Hedquist between the legs to give the Kings the lead once again, and they would take it into the 3rd period.
The Bulldogs would press for the equalizer in the final frame and they would do just that as Josh Zary scored from the slot on the powerplay to even the score at 2. With just under 3 minutes to go the Kings would get into some penalty trouble taking 2 penalties just 3 seconds apart and the Kings would be on a massive 5 on 3 kill late in the game. The penalty kill that has struggled during the season showed up when they needed it most and managed to kill of the two man advantage by making many crucial blocks and Matthias Smith came up big when he needed to. The Kings would manage to kill of the penalties and head into OT.
In OT the Bulldogs would get some early chanced but Matthias Smith was up to the task like he was all game and kept the Kings alive. OT would come down to the dying seconds as Josh Zary knocked down Ethan Riesterer in the Bulldogs end and took the puck on a breakaway where he would score to win the game for Alberni 3-2 with 10 seconds remaining in OT.
It was a hard fought loss for the Kings who played a great game, battled right to the very end, and deserved a better result. The penalty kill would go 7 for 8 while Matthias Smith made 38 saves.
With the loss the Kings are 0-2-2 on the 5 game homestand and 10-17-4 on the season as well 0-4 in overtime.
The Kings will look to rebound Saturday in what should be a raucous atmosphere at the Hap as it is Tla’amin Nation night! Puck drop is at 7.
