Entering Thursday’s game the Kings sat tied for the final playoff spot with the Cowichan Valley Capitals as they headed into Langley to take on the Rivermen to start the final road trip of the season.
The Rivermen get the scoring started midway through the first period when Max Bulawka potted in a rebound to give the Rivermen the early lead. The home team would make it two nothing in the final minute on the power play when Riley Wallack would tip in a slap pass in front of the net to send the Rivermen to the intermission with a multi goal lead.
Langley would continue to press early in the second and just over a minute in Riley Wallack would score again on almost the exact same play that he scored with in the first period. Down 3-0 it seemed like the Kings were down for the count but the Kings found a spark as they would go on an absolute tear. It started at 4:49 off a faceoff win from Anthony Lucarelli in which the puck went to Caleb Parkhouse who fired a wrister past Jamison Kaine to get the Kings on the board. Under two minutes later the Kings would find them selves on the power play and Nic Porchetta took the puck to the slot but he whiffed on the shot but luckily it went right to Anthony Lucarelli who buried his 14th of the season. Then 90 seconds after getting within one, the Kings would find themselves with an extra attacker on a delayed penalty and they had possession in the offensive zone Jason Marsella would take a shot from the point, it hit Nolan Krogfoss then redirected into the skate of Owen Barrow and the puck trickled over the goal line to even up the score. The Rivermen would call their timeout trying to regroup as the Kings found some life to tie the game, but the Kings were red hot in the second and found them selves on the power play once again. Nic Porchetta from behind the net found Jason Marsella in the right circle and he put a wrist shot on net and it found its way in for his first BCHL and more importantly to give the Kings the lead. The Kings would go on to add one more as a Kaleb Nelson shot deflected of Max Potvin and in to cap off a 5 goal in 10 minute stretch which included 5 goals on 10 shots in the period and it ended the night for Rivermen starter Jamison Kaine as AP Damien Perovic came in replacement. The Kings would take a 5-3 lead into the third period.
The Rivermen were looking to keep a hold on second place in the Coastal Conference and pressed to get two goals and once again on the power play Max Bulawka would flip the puck over Brice from in front of the net after a scramble for the loose puck for his second of the game. Then with 4 minutes left in the game the Rivermen were back on the power play and Riv captain Stephen Sielsky shot a wrister from the point which hit the crossbar and deflected to Ryan Upson on the right side who gloved it down and fired it past a diving Zak Brice to tie the game at 5-5 This contest would need overtime which was great for the Kings who picked up the crucial single point. The Kings would out shoot Langley 5-3 in OT but this game needed a shootout.
The first shooter was Chase Sandhu of Langley and he scored beating Brice on the backhand. Hunter Andrew, Andrej Kovacevic, Ethan Riesterer, and Riley Wallack would all fail to score and it would come down to Kaleb Nelson who needed to score for the Kings to extend the shootout, but he was stopped by Perovic who stopped all 22 shots he faced in relief to give the Rivermen the 6-5 win.
The Kings would outshoot Langley 44-38 but the difference was the special teams as Langley went 3 for 5 on the man advantage.
Nic Porchetta, Anthony Lucarelli, and Jason Marsella found themselves with multi point efforts in the loss.
Despite the loss the Kings to pick up a big point as they now sit solo 8th in the Coastal Conference, one point up on the Capitals for the final playoff birth. Both teams have two games remaining. The Capitals are in Victoria tonight and will wrap up their season on Saturday at home to Nanaimo, while the Kings will play in Chilliwack on Saturday before finishing up the season Sunday in Surrey.
