The Kings scored twice on the powerplay, added another in the seconds following a man advantage, and one more shorthanded for a 5-2 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Thursday night in BC’s Northern Capital.
The Kings got off to a good start, showing little signs of the bus legs that had no doubt come along with them following a 15 hour trip up to Prince George the day prior. An early powerplay saw the Kings take advantage as Neal Samanski made a nice pass from the side of the net to hit Ben Berard wide open on the faceoff circle, his league-leading 10th of the season made it 1-0.
Powell River would double the lead 5 minutes later, this time through some nice hands in front from Mitch Williams who found a puck off a rebound and was able to tuck it around the Spruce King goaltender for his 5th of the year and the Kings had a 2-0 lead through 20, with shots even at 9.
A rough second for the Kings who came out of the room the slower of the two teams. Prince George made the visitors pay with Corey Cunningham cutting the lead to one. Not to be rattled though, the Kings again used special teams to take control of the game. This time, for the first time this season, the Kings scored shorthanded as Josh Coblenz teed up Christian Buono on a 2-on-1 for Buono’s 2nd of the year and a 3-1 advantage through 40. Shots 24-15 Prince George.
A solid start to the third was needed and the Kings got it, pushing the game beyond reach of Prince George with Josh Coblenz getting a puck in front following a Kyle Kawamura shot from the wall, Coblenz’ 1st of the season and a 4-1 lead. Ethan Schmunk iced the game with an empty net goal 90 seconds from time, his first in Junior A and the Kings skated away with a measure of redemption from last year’s playoffs, a 5-2 win. Mitch Adamyk stopped 35/37 in net for his 6th win of the year as the Kings improve to 7-4 on the season.
Here’s what Brock Sawyer had to say in the post game show:
Three Stars of the Game
- Josh Coblenz (Kings) – 1 goal, 1 assist
- Mitch Adamyk (Kings) – 35 saves, 6th win
- Christian Buono (Kings) – 1 goal
The Kings now travel to Trail to face the Smoke Eaters, a 7:00pm start on Saturday night from Cominco Arena.
