The Kings scored a pair of shorthanded goals in the second period and executed a solid road game en route to a 7-3 win in Victoria on a rare Tuesday night encounter.
A slow start offensively for both teams with shots a rare commodity. However midway through the Kings had a breakout from their own zone as Josh Coblenz made a nice chip up the wall for Trent Bell to skate onto down the right wing and fire on Grizzlies goaltender Zach Rose for his 3rd of the season and a 1-0 lead.
The Kings doubled the lead almost five minutes later with Kyle Kawamura making a nice pick in neutral ice and unleashing Kevin Obssuth on a partial break that he muscled into a full break and slid the puck five-hole on Rose for a 2-0 lead on his 12th of the season. Victoria got one back just under 50 seconds later for a 2-1 Kings lead into the first break, with the Kings outshooting Victoria 13-12 through 20.
Into the 2nd period, and the Kings started on the man advantage but were unable to capitalize until the Grizzlies went to a powerplay of their own. Carter Turnbull got a pass from the Kings zone and skated nearly end to end before going bar down on Rose for his 16th of the year and a 3-1 lead. Much like the first period, a two goal advantage was shortlived, this time just 40 seconds before the Grizzlies scored in the powerplay and a 3-2 scoreline.
Midway through the period, the Kings would get the eventual game winner as Hunter Findlater strolled down the left side and fired a bullet from the left wall for his 8th of the year and a 4-2 lead. That goal would chase Grizzlies starter Zach Rose, giving up 4 goals on 19 shots in 29:30.
The goalie change didn’t spark Victoria as Ethan Kimball made a nice forehand to backhand move to knock down an inch-perfect Kyle Kawamura pass for another shorthanded goal and a 5-2 lead. Victoria clawed one back late in the period but the Kings lead 5-3 through 40, despite being outshot 29-26.
Into the third period and the Kings continued to hammer nails into the Grizzlies coffin for the game. 1:03 in, Kevin Obssuth snuffed any momentum the home team had gotten from a late second period marker with a nice move off an offensive zone faceoff, then Carter Turnbull redirected a Ben Raffler point shot for his 2nd of the game and team-leading 17th of the year to round out a 7-3 win. Mitch Adamyk picks up win number 10 on the season as the Kings improve to 16-6-2-2 and a three-point led at the top of the Island Division over the Nanaimo Clippers, with a four point cushion on the Grizzlies.
Here’s the Facebook Live postgame show featuring Kings Assistant Coach Brock Sawyer:
Three Stars of the Game
1. Carter Turnbull (Kings) – 2 goals
2. Kevin Obssuth (Kings) – 2 goals
3. Mitch Adamyk (Kings) – 39 saves, 10th win
The Kings return home for the final pair of games at the Hap in the pre-Christmas schedule by hosting the Langley Rivermen and Surrey Eagles on Friday and Saturday nights, both 7:15pm starts.
