Weekend Recap is presented by Iris Optometry.
After a disappointing homestand the Kings returned to the Island as they looked to end a long losing streak. Still battling injuries and illness the Kings brought in reinforcements in Rémi Gélinas and Simone Dadiè who both made their Kings debuts on the weekend.
Friday the Kings were in Nanaimo which ended in a 6-4 loss. The Kings scored the opening goal from Lucarelli on a power play but the Clippers scored twice before the end of the first to take a lead to the intermission. Simone Dadiè would score his first BCHL goal early in the second but the Clippers would strike two more times to take a two goal lead. Christian Maro would score his 5th later in the period as the Kings trailed 4-3 through two periods. In the third the Clippers would add two more to take a 3 goal lead but the Kings cut it back down to two with a Zander Stewart power play goal, but that would be as close as they came.
With the losing streak now to 11 games the Kings would head to Duncan on Saturday for another meeting with the Capitals who beat the Kings in Powell River a week prior.
It wouldn’t be a great period for the Kings despite outshooting the Capitals 13-11. Luke Lavery would score at 13:01 then Lars-Petter Eckholm scored another 42 seconds later to give the Caps a 2-0 lead into the second. The Kings would wake up to start the second and really start to take control. After many great shifts to open the period the Kings would finally get rewarded with a goal at 3:52 from Anthony Lucarelli who knocked in a rebound. 3 miunutes later Alex Sandhu would pot a rebound of his own for his second of the year as all of a sudden it was tied at two. However a miss play between Tresor Wotton and Owen Thomas a few minutes later would give the Capitals a gift with an open net goal to restore their lead. Despite the mishap the Kings continued to dominate the second period and would tie the game again with 1:13 left when Anthony Yu put in a loose puck for his 8th of the season to cap off a dominate period where the Kings out shot the Capitals 22-6. It wouldn’t take long for the Kings to take the lead for the first time after Simone Dadiè found Anthony Lucarelli wide open in the slot at 3:22 and Lucarelli one timed it in for his second of the game to make it 4-3. The Caps would tie it at 9:10 with another long bomb from Luke Lavery to tie it 4-4. Not long after, there would be a big hit and a couple fights and it would end up being a 4 on 4 situation. at 13:08 Dadiè would once again set up Anthony Lucarelli who was open in the slot and he put another one timer in the net to complete the hat trick. Now up, the Kings continued to control play and would allow too much chances for the home side. Once again they would out shoot them 13-4 as the Kings held on for their first win since the 8-0 win over Trail at the start of November. Final shots were 48-21.
With 4 goals on the weekend Lucarelli now takes the team lead with 11 while Simoe Dadiè finished his first weekend with 3 points and Rèmi Gèlinas had many scoring chanced but only managed an assist on the weekend.
The Kings now have a record of 5-17-3-0 and are tied with the Capitals for 8th in the Coastal Conference. Only two games are left before the the Holiday break and they will happen this weekend on the Lower Mainland. They will play the Surrey Eagles Friday at 7pm, then the Langley Rivermen Saturday at 7:15. The next home games are December 29th and 30th against the Coquitlam Express. Both games are at 7pm.
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