A bit of a shocker to start the series but the Kings perservered and won the opener 3-2.
Early penalty trouble and a couple of goals from the Clippers put the Kings on their heels midway through the first period.
Credit to the Kings for sticking to their game and in particular Cole Arcuri for a great solo effort that saw him weave through the Clippers defensemen to score for the Kings at 15:03.
They weren't finished as Matt Scarth came out of the penalty box after a lengthy stay for his 12 minute penalty and had energy to burn.
Kurt Keats did the work and spotted Scarth waiting for the pass that he one-timed by Argue at 19:36 to tie the game 2-2 after one period.
Back on even keel, Kings had the Clippers hemmed in midway through the second when Scarth and Keat's hard work forced the puck out to Grayson who circled around to the net and fired a perfect shot high blocker on Argue.
His goal at 10:21 proved to be the winner as the Kings got to work on the forecheck for the remainder of the second and third periods.
Each side had a couple of chances to add a goal but as expected both goaltenders were very solid and Grayson's goal held up as the winner in the 3-2 opener.
Kings were particularly good in the final three minutes as Nanaimo tried to mount an attack and in the last minute pull Argue for an extra man. Nothing doing as the Kings continued to press and kept the Clippers in their own end of the rink.
After the game, forward Matt Scarth talked about a few of his 'moments' in the game.
Charged with a hit to the head he said, "the ref said the other guy ducked but I leaned into him."
After his extended stay in the penalty box Scarth had some extra energy he turned into a goal.
"Not all the calls are going to go your way," he explained, "you've going to have to deal with adversity and good teams find a way to do that."
"When I got out of the box we popped a couple of quick ones and got back into the game."
His goal he said, "Keats and Luko had been playiing good and we had a good 20 seconds of cycling and Keats found me backdoor."
"It was a nice pass by him," said Scarth who scored on a nice one-timer.
Good effort for the Kings but a long way to go in the series with game two going at the Hap at 6:30 P.M.
Armitage Mens Wear Three Stars:
1. Cole Arcuri
2. Kurt Keats
3. Josh McArdle
