When you score two goals short-handed, you know you’re likely to have a pretty good game. Thus was the case Wednesday night when the Kings were on the right side of a 5-3 decision against the Cowichan Capitals in Duncan.
Once again, it was Cohen Adair leading the way for the team, as he got the scoring going just 2 minutes into the contest, finding a loose puck to the side of the net after a Jordan Benton wrist shot hit the pads of the Caps netminder. Luke Laskiewicz got an assist on the play, while Benton didn’t, that may change, but for now it’s Adair from Laskiewicz, 1-0 Kings.
It stayed that way to the 1st change, then 3 minutes after the break, Adair got his 2nd of the game, 4th of the season, shorthanded to make it 2-0. He wasn’t done, as just 5 minutes later, Adair’s 3rd shortie in 2 games (4 periods really) completed the natural hat trick and gave the Kings a 3-0 lead with half the contest gone. Following the goal, the Caps called a time out and it helped, as immediately after the chat with the coach, they came out a different side.
The work lead to reward for the Duncan side, with Matt Grant’s 2nd of the season with just 20 seconds left, put the Caps on the board and within striking distance, Kings lead 3-1 after 40.
In the final frame, the game opened up and the teams went shot-for-shot in the final 20 minutes. The Capitals scored first, Matt Brown finding a puck in his feet, spinning and scoring shortside on Sean Maguire, 3-2 Caps. Teagan Waugh restored the 2-goal lead immediately after with his 1st of the season (Cohen Adair with the lone assist). Steven Iacobellis again halved the lead, but Waugh’s marker would stand up as the game winner when Dan Schuler picked the top corner from outside the faceoff dot on an empty net to make it a 5-3 win.
Sean Maguire picks up his 2nd win of the season, stopping 27/30 and Cohen Adair picks up his 3rd and 4th shorthanded goals of the season. For reference, the Kings had 10 shorties all last season.
The Game How I Saw It
- The Kings were out-shot 30-22, most of those 30 shots against came after the timeout after Adair’s 3rd.
- Both Steve Schmidt and Craig Dalrymple took 10-minute misconducts for blows to the head. I initially thought Dalrymple’s call, which came right at the end of the 2nd, was a charging call, however it’s down as a hit to the head and there was no signal on the ice.
- Still no powerplay scoring from the Kings, which is and isn’t a concern. The team is winning, and scoring other ways, but a successful powerplay is the key to long-term success
Three Stars of the Game
3rd: Steven Iacobellis (CVC) – 1 goal
2nd: Teagan Waugh (PRK) – 1 goal
1st: Cohen Adair (PRK) – 3 goals, 1 assist
Next action is Saturday night against the Langley Rivermen. Game time is 7:30, tickets are available at the Kings office. If you can’t make the game, join Andy and myself on the broadcast, beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15, live on 95.7 SunFM.
See you at the Hap!!!
