Saturday marked the final game of a 4 game home stand and the Kings looked to finish it off with another W versus the Cowichan Valley Capitals while Thomas Wardle made his return from injury to the Kings crease.
The the first period didn’t get off the the best of starts as the Capitals came out hot, but Thomas Wardle was solid early on for his team. The Kings would get into some penalty trouble and the Caps made them pay on their 3rd opportunity as Luke Haymes hit the post off a one timer and it redirected right to David Jacobs who beat a diving Wardle to give the Capitals the early 1-0 lead. That goal would be a wake up call for the boys, as they would get their feet moving and start creating chances. As the period wound down, Nolan Krogfoss would feed Parker LaLonde with the pass over the blue line and LaLonde would have a parcial breakaway. Caps goalie Evan May would make the initial save, but LaLonde would put in his own rebound for his 4th of the season and to tie the game 1-1.
As the second period got going the Kings would start right where they left off the first as on the power play, Ethan Riesterer would feed LaLonde down low who got a shot off between his legs, May would make the save but was unable to handle it and the puck was poked in by Max Potvin who, scored his 3rd goal in two games and gave the Kings the lead. Near the mid point of the period the Kings would strike again as Dylan Finlay would start a breakout pass to Caleb Parkhouse who brought it across the line and passed it to Nic Porchetta who quickly gave it Anthony Lucarelli who one timed it in to complete the Tic-Tac-Toe play. The goal would by Lucarelli’s 5th of the season. Now starting to cruise the Kings would look to add some more goals and they would on the power play once more as again Riesterer fed LaLonde down low, but this time Parker would pass up in the slot to Max Potvin who shot it over the glove of May to secure his second straight 2 goal game. The 3 goal lead would only last a few minutes as the Capitals would get on back on a power play of their own as David Jacobs would get his second of the game off a one timer in the high slot. The Kings would hold a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.
The 3rd would be a very defensive period with the best chance coming to Max Potvin who had a penalty shot the complete the Hat Trick but May would make the save to keep it a 2 goal game. The Caps would try to get another goal on the board with the extra attacker but Thomas Wardle and the Kings would withstand the flurry of chances and defeat the Capitals 4-2.
The Kings would hold the Capitals to just 10 shots in the 3rd with a majority of those coming in the final 3 minutes. Thomas Wardle would make 34 saves in his return to pick up his first win since the Pod last year. Parker LaLonde would finish with 3 points in the victory and is now tied for the team lead with 11 points along side Karter McNarland. With the win the Kings will move to .500 on the season with a 6-6-1 record, while they’ve gone 6-2-1 since the BCHL showcase.
The Kings will now move onto one of the toughest stretches of the season with 6 games in 10 days with 5 of those being on the road. It will kick off with a 2 game island road trip starting Thursday in Port Alberni as the Kings take on the Bulldogs then on Friday it will be a matchup with the Grizzlies in Victoria. Both Games will start at 7pm.
