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McKay’s late game heroics lift Kings to a 6-5 win

By: Dante De Caria 

Powell River, BC – Dawson McKay scored with seven seconds left on the clock, giving the Powell River Kings (2-0) a 6-5 comeback win over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (0-2) on Saturday night at the Hap Parker Arena.

Ethan Schmunk fed McKay the puck in the slot, and he potted home his third goal of the season with just seconds left on the clock. He initially fanned on the shot, but spun off a check and backhanded the bouncing puck through the legs of Bulldogs goaltender Luke Pearson.

The Kings were down 4-1 at the halfway point of the second period, but a goalie change and three unanswered goals brought the contest to a 4-4 tie going into the third period. That was the second of three comebacks by the Kings throughout the hockey game. In the third period, Ian Kern tied the game 5-5 after his point shot found its way into the net.

That Kern tying goal was his first of his Jr. A career, helping lead the way for McKay’s eventual game-winning-goal in the dying seconds.

Ethan Schmunk scored the third and fourth Kings goals, and finished with a three-point game. Christian Buono also recorded three assists, giving him five assists in two games, while Pennington and Finlay totaled multi-assist games.

Matteo Paler-Chow was pulled after 23-minutes of action, where he allowed three goals on 11-shots. Alex Rolfe received the win, allowing two goals on 23-shots, logging 36-minutes in net.

Kern wasn’t the only player to score his first career Jr.A/BCHL goal as Reilly Moran scored his first goal midway through the second period. That was also the first of the three unanswered goals by the Kings in the second.

Powell River outshot Alberni Valley 52-34 and went 2-for-5 on the power play.