Weekend Recap is presented by Iris Optometry.
Last weekend marked the final week of the regular season as the Kings would wrap up the campaign with a 3 game lower mainland road trip.
the trip would begin with a big matchup on Friday as the Kings took on their first round opponents in the Surrey Eagles.
After some back and forth action to start off the Eagles would get the opening goal when former King Jacob Bonkowski would knock in a loose puck in the slot to make it 1-0 at 7:55. The Kings would have an answer a few minutes later when the puck would come in front of the goal for Adam Mendelson who tapped it in for his 10th to even the score. The Eagles would manage to regain the lead later on in the period when Jake Bongo finished up a 2 on 1 as Surrey lead 2-1 after the first.
Things would tighten up in the second as the Kings kept it close, but the Eagles would add to their lead midway though the period off an offensive zone faceoff when the puck came to Trent Wilson who was wide open and would make a deke to the backhand to slide it past Liam Vanderkooi to make it 3-1. The Kings would have another quick answer to the goal just a few minutes later when Noah Eyre made a great move to get a shot off on the backhand. The shot would be stopped but the rebound shot in by Ryder Ringor who notched his 9th as the Kings trailed 3-2 through two periods.
The Kings would get off to a great start in the third period with lot’s of puck possession in the offensive zone. They would do everything right except score a goal as the remained down by one. After surviving the early pressure from the Kings the Eagles would take advantage of an opportunity and Ryden Evers would restore the two goal cushion at 10:58 after scored off a loose puck in the slot. The Kings would press to get back in it but were unsuccessful. Trent Wilson would add the dagger late in the game for his second on a wrap around to make it 5-2. The Eagles would add an empty netter in the final seconds to win 6-2.
The Kings would look for a better result on Saturday as they went into Langley to take on the 8th place Rivermen.
It would be all Langley early on as they would find themselves on two power plays in the first 10 minutes but Kyle Metson would stand tall on the PK to keep it scoreless. Once it got back to 5 on 5 the Kings would start to find their footing and would open the scoring at 13:37. Langley would clear the puck to the neutral zone where it ended up on the stick of Will Jones, who then passed to Noah Eyre who made a great move at the blueline to get by a Langley defender and would rip one from the right circle which went post and in for his 9th. That would be the only goal of the period as the Kings took the lead.
With momentum on their side the Kings would aim to extend the lead in the second but were unable to do so and would find themselves in some more penalty trouble. Langley would tie the game right after their 4th power play would expire at 13:30. An initial shot would be stopped by Metson but he would leave the rebound which would create a scramble in front of the net. The puck would come to Reilly Kotai who knocked in the open cage to even the score. Eager to regain the lead the Kings stepped on the gas pedal and even though the were unable to score they would be able to draw some penalties. They wouldn’t score on a PP with 5 minutes left in the period, but would immediately find themselves on another one right after and would make quick work on it. Will Jones would send a hard pass from the blue line to the side of the goal, where Anthony Yu was there to deflect it in for his 17th to make it 2-1. Then one the following shift a Ryder Ringor shot would be tipped in by Alex Sandhu who got his 5th to make it 3-1, then just over a minute later Karter McNarland would hammer home a centering pass for his 16th as the Kings splurged for three goals in two minutes to take a 4-1 lead going into the third.
It looked like the Kings were on cruise control in the third, controlling play in the first half but were unable to pad their lead. It would remain 4-1 until the media timeout and afterwards the game would start to shift in Langley’s favour. Dominic Revelli would score on a rebound on a power play at 10:56, then a minute later John Small shot in a onetime in the slot off the rush to quickly reduce the Kings lead to one. With momentum now fully on their side the Rivermen would manage to tie it up with 5 minutes left of a deflection in front. After giving up another 3 goal lead the Kings were obviously frustrated and would take a undisciplined penalty to give Langley to take the lead late. The Riv would make the most of their late PP when Tanner Attew scored on a point shot with just over 3 minutes left as they would score 4 times in the span of 7 minutes to take the lead. The Kings would find themselves 6 on 5 in the final minute but couldn’t find the back of the net as they dropped this one 5-4. The PK would go 5 for 7 and it would be the first time this season the Kings lost in regulation when leading after two period.
So after tough loss on Saturday, the Kings would look to make amends and finish off the season on a high as they took on the Coquitlam Express in the final regular season game.
The Kings would get off to the perfect start, once again controlling play earlier on and would manage to score to opening goal at 3:52 on Alexi Van-Houtte Cachero’s 13th of the year after he shot the puck right after Parker Lalonde won the o-zone faceoff. Later in the period the Kings would wind up on a 4 on 3 power play and would make the most of the chance when Casey Aman’s point shot found the back of the net for his 10th to make it 2-0. After that the Express would start to wake up and would score on a power play of their own on a goal from Mirko Buttazoni at 16:05. Coquitlam would look for the equalizer before the period ended, but the Kings bared down and kept the one goal lead after the first.
Coquitlam would eventually get their tying goal at 4:41 when Tyler Kopff would score on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 2-2. After that goal the Kings were determined not to lose another game when have a multi goal lead and would start to pull away. The resurgence would start at 11:07 when Cam Symons took a shot right off a offensive zone faceoff which his a stick in front, when up in the air and landed behind Express goalie Brady Smith, as Symons got his 14th on the year at that point. Cam Symons would score his second of the game 4 minutes later after he finished a tic-tac-toe play with Anthony Lucarelli and Karter McNarland. to make it 4-2. Luke Vardy of the Express would get them back withing one a minute later but Parker Lalonde would respond two minutes later after he banked the puck off the back legs of Smith from the goal line for his 16 to give the Kings at 5-3 lead going into the final period of the season.
In the third the Kings would pile it on Parker Lalonde would add his second of the game 1:42 in to make it 6-3, then Cam Symons would complete the hat-trick at 7:19 with a little help from the stanchion to make it 7-3, then at 10:53 newly signed Carter Lundie would get his second of the year to make it 8-3. Matteo Dixon would get one more for the Express, but that would be as close as they would get as the Kings won their final regular season game 8-3, despite being outshot 40-29.
The win would be the coveted 20th of the season as the Kings finished the year with a record of 20-26-53, collecting 7 more wins than last season. Now the Kings will get set for their first round playoff series against the Eagles that will start on the road later this week. Game 1 will take place Friday at 7:15pm, then Game 2 will be on Sunday at 6pm. The series will then shift to Powell River for games 3 & 4 which will take place on Monday and Tuesday. Both games will be at 7pm.
Massullo Motors Weekend Highlights | www.powellriverkings.com/highlights
