By: Dante De Caria | Photo: Chloe Garvey
Powell River, BC – The Powell River Kings (23-21-3) swept the double-header over the Nanaimo Clippers (27-15-4) with a 5-1 win in front of a crowd of 778 on Saturday night at the Hap Parker Arena.
The Kings scored three goals in the final six minutes of the second period to sway the momentum in their favour, which then translated to two more in the third period. With the victory, the Kings have won three of the last four meetings against the Clippers, and now trail the season series 4-3 with one more meeting this season.
Jack Brackett scored twice, giving him 11 goals this season, and third multi-goal game of the season. Both of his goals were in the slot, after using his speed to get the puck in the attacking zone.
“That’s the Jack Brackett we’re accustom to seeing,” said Kings assistant coach Brock Sawyer. “When he’s moving his legs, handling the puck and driving defensemen wide, it opens up a lot of opportunities for him. Two excellent goals for him, and it was nice to see him rewarded.”
The Kings improve to 7-1 when Brackett finds the back of the net. He also helps the club get four points this weekend, which moves the Kings into third place in the Island Division.
“It’s a big step in the right direction, and a big four points for us,” said Brackett. “I woke up feeling really good, the legs felt great so I tried to play the structure, and really hard, and it worked out.”
Powell River’ goaltender Derek Krall made 28 saves on 29 shots for his 18th victory of the season, and third against the Clippers. On the other side, Clippers netminder Zachary Bennett made 33 saves on 38 shots in the loss.
It was Brett Roloson that opened the scoring for the Kings, leading to five unanswered goals late in the game. He took the puck off Liam Visram’s stick, and beat Bennett with a backhander for his 15th of the season, and second in as many games.
“Once we got the first one, we got rolling,” added Sawyer. “We were just relentless on our forecheck and moving our feet all night. It made for a really nice intermission, as we kept emphasizing strong habits and details in our game, and we came out and kept going right at them.”
Jacob Badal scored his 13th of the season, and Nolan Krogfoss picked up his fifth of the year, extending his goal-streak to two games. Ethan Schmunk had his three game goal-streak come to an end, but with an assist, he prolonged his point-streak to four games (3G/2A).
The Kings are now winners of three of their last four games, while also improving to 5-3-1 since the Christmas break. The Clippers go to 3-5 since the break, having lost four of their last five games.
The Powell River Kings continue their six game homestand Friday, January 24th at 7:00 p.m., against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
