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Kings offence falls short, as their undefeated streak comes to an end

Dante De Caria | Photo: Pure Life Photography 

Salmon Arm, BC – The Powell River Kings (5-1) dropped their first game of the season, as the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (4-0) won 5-2 on Friday night at the Shaw Centre.

The Kings had a 2-1 lead late in the third period, but the Silverbacks scored two goals 13-seconds apart to take a 3-2 lead into the third period. Noah Wakeford tied the game and Daniel Rybarik gave Salmon Arm the lead. That would continue in the third, as they scored two more, for a total of four unanswered goals from the end of the second to the third period.

“Give them credit, they worked to get back into it,” said Powell River Kings Assistant Coach Brock Sawyer. “In the last two minutes (of the second) you have a faceoff mistake in our zone where a guy gets left wide open on the backdoor. Then right off the faceoff, the center wonders, and we turn another one over, and they score.”

“Not a typical Powell River Kings game. We’re a young team, it’s game six and in reality we’re not going to go 58-0 so you take these games and you learn from it,” added Sawyer.

Salmon Arm outshot Powell River 31-26, as the Kings were outshot for the second straight game.

Jack Brackett gave the Kings a 2-1 lead with under six minutes to play in the second period. He potted home a rebound on the power-play for his first BCHL goal. That now gives him points in three straight games after having no points over his first three games.

“I’m so happy for Jack (Brackett), smiled Sawyer. “I talked to the RPI coach, and I told him he will get one sooner rather than later. Tonight was the night, as he’s had so many chances and he works so hard. With his work ethic and his speed – he’s going to be a fan favorite for sure.”

Silverbacks goaltender Ethan Langenegger earned his third win this season, stopping 24 of 26 shots. Matteo Paler-Chow’s three game winning-streak came to an end, allowing five goals on 31-shots.

The Kings scored on the power-play for the fifth straight game, but went 1-for-7 on the man-advantage. Sawyer said that the Kings were too cute when they had a power-play.

“We would over handle pucks on the sideboards, and by the time we were going to shoot, it would hit shin pads, and when we hit the net, the rebound weren’t there. Our execution wasn’t there, and it wasn’t clicking, so you just have to learn from it.”

16-year-old forward Jacob Bonkowski made his BCHL debut, playing on the fourth line with Matthew Byrne who made his first appearance in the lineup this season. Levi Glasman extended his point-streak to a BCHL best sixth straight game, adding an assist on Brackett’s goal.

The Powell River Kings are back in action on Saturday, September 21st at 6:00 p.m., when they take on the Vernon Vipers. You can catch the action on 95.7 Coast FM and Hockey TV.