Less than 24 hours after beating the Victoria Grizzlies, the Kings came home to face the Surrey Eagles for first place in the Coastal Division.
A crowd of 600 was on hand to watch a couple of tired teams put in a good effort that resulted in 11 goals.
A thrill for the Powell River fans was the appearance of home town boy Sean Maguire who got his first start in the net but his job was a tough one as he faced the highest scoring team in the league so far this year.
On this day the high scoring soaring Eagles and a pretty opportunistic powerplay won out over the jitters of Maguire and Surrey jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period.
The first goal was a rebound off a Maguire save and the second a clearing pass by a Kings that bounced off an Eagle in front of the net.
Kings got one back with 10 seconds to go in the period by Schuler to make it 2-1 at the end of one.
Kings' Adair evened it up quickly in the second at 1:33 but Surrey got the lead back 3 minutes later.
Kings answered again when Brendan Forbes scored on a beautiful solo effort that he finished by slipping the puck by the goalie on the far side.
Surrey got two more to jump to a 5-3 lead but once again the Kings scored late in the period from Schuler at 18:25 to make it 5-4 heading into the third.
Kings came out hustling in the third and looked ready to tie but Surrey scored on their first chance of the period at 3:47.
Kings had their chances in the third but Lessard turned them away until Niddery got a quick wristy away off a face off at 15:46 that beat the Surrey netminder high.
Garteig, who had come in for Maguire, was pulled with 1:04 to go but the extra man and good hard work down low couldn't get the Kings' sixth and tying goal.
All in all a good strong effort from the Kings who never quit. Surrey looked very good on the powerplay and like many clubs in the BCHL get most of their scoring from one line.
For his part Maguire was happy to get his first start with the Kings out of the way as he admitted after the game to having butterflies.
“I was nervous,” he said, “but you just have to get through that first game and if it goes your way, it goes your way – if it doesn't then you just have to learn from it.”
Kings have a couple of interior teams visiting this week with Trail and Merritt in town.
Ron Armitage Mens Wear Three Stars:
1. Richard Vanderhoek
2. Brendan Forbes
3. Tyler Morley
