The Kings got pairs from Kurt Keats, Matt Scarth and Stephen Hiff, along with early goals from Luke Nogard and JJ Coleshaw on their way to an 8-3 victory over the Victoria Grizzlies on Tuesday night, knotting the best-of-seven Island Division Final at 2.
Here are some thoughts from the game:
- After a tense, entertaining but ultimately low scoring 1st period, I was certain we were going to see a 4-2, 3-2 type of hockey game with one mistake costing a team…boy was I wrong. The pace of this game continued to sky rocket the longer it went on.
- What impressed me the most was the Kings response to Victoria pushes. When the Grizzlies tied it at 2, the Kings responded in 27 seconds. When it was knotted at 3, just 22 seconds went by before the Kings got the lead back. Despite blowing the 2-goal lead, the Kings were able to snuff out any Victoria comeback.
- Another good outing for Stephen Hiff, Luke Nogard and Jarryd Leung. Hiff earned another 2nd star nod tonight, and it had little to do with his pair of goals. Again he caused turnovers, forechecked hard, killed penalties well and was an ever-present force up front…the offence certainly helped. Luke Nogard had a solid game, in the same vein as Hiff. Leung, one of these days he’ll score 7 goals in a game because he’s getting chances. The 1st breakaway he tried to do something and just got underneath it. The 2nd one was a real good save from Dillon.
- Tonight’s game 4 had more playoff feel that the 3 prior. It wasn’t just the pushing or the post-whistle conversations, but just the whole vibe. Games 1 and 2 were flat out boring, game 3 injected some life and game 4 was a step up from that. I’m excited to see what the teams bring for game 5 as after that, one team will have their season on the line.
- On the topic of emotion, the Grizzlies lost their cool in this game as frustration began to take over. Defenceman Chris Albertini earned himself a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for a blow to the head. It wasn’t a check, rather a big right hand to the helmet of Jarid Lukosevicius. Unless something changes from the league, that’s an automatic 2-game suspension for the blue-liner.
- Goaltending solid from Jonah Imoo, again a case of being good enough. Was never required to be spectacular, but made some key stops and managed the side of his goal very well in dealing with the Fitzgerald triplets.
Here’s what Derek Bachynski had to say in the post-game show:
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/140316918″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Three Stars of the Game:
- Kurt Keats (Kings) – 2 goals
- Stephen Hiff (Kings) – 2 goals, 1 assist
- Jarryd Leung (Kings) – 3 assists
Fortis BC Energy Player of the Game: Luke Nogard (1 goal)
Game 5 is Thursday night in Victoria, a 7:15 faceoff. I’ll have the call on SunFM and FastHockey beginning at 6:45. The big news though is that with the win, the Kings are guaranteed a game 6, Friday night at the Hap Parker Arena in Powell River. That’ll be on Friday at 7:30.
BIG NEWS
For this game, the Kings along with a host of local businesses are GUARANTEEING a $3000 50/50 jackpot!!!! But there’s a catch…we need at least 1200 fans at the game to make that happen. Bring your friends, your family, your friends family to the game, pack the Hap and ensure this huge 50/50 jackpot! More details to come later Thursday, plus maybe 1 or 2 more surprises!
