The Powell River Kings had their five game win streak snapped in heartbreaking fashion with a late shorthanded goal leading the Wenatchee Wild to a 6-3 win on Saturday night.
A rough start for Powell River who conceded a goal on the opening shift when an errant pass was put on a Wenatchee stick in a prime scoring area. Mitch Adamyk stopped the first shot but could do little on a second scramble around the net and a 1-0 Wild lead just 34 seconds in. The longer the period went on, the better the Kings got with a handful of chances, but the team was unable to cut into the lead and it stayed 1-0 through 20, shots 11-6 Wenatchee.
The second period saw more fruit for the Kings offence. Ryan Brushett at the end of a shift went in on a 2-on-1 with affiliate Michael Abgrall. Brushett kept and found the back of the net for his 10th of the year and a 1-1 game.
Shortly after, the Kings got their first lead of the game with Matt Rickard jumping up into the play, using his speed to create a 2-on-1 with Rowan Miller where Rickard passed over to Miller for a one-timer into the back of the net, his 3rd of the season and a 2-1 lead.
Wenatchee tied the game not long later, however the Kings were able to regain the advantage through Josh Coblenz. After a puck battle in the corner, Christian Buono skated behind the net and passed out to the slot for Coblenz to hold, fire and score underneath the crossbar for his 4th goal in 3 games and a 3-2 lead. The Wild tied the game before the end of the period and it went into the 2nd intermission tied at 3.
Powell River continued to push and search for an equalizer. They were given a golden opportunity late in the period with a trio of powerplays, including a 50 second five on three however a bad break for the Kings sealed the game for Wenatchee. On a powerplay, a puck came to the blue line with Matt Rickard blowing a tire and Ben Thomas diving, but unable to sweep a puck away, resulting in a breakaway shorthanded goal for the Wild and a 4-3 lead. Wenatchee would add two more including one into the empty net to complete the win, a 6-3 score.
The road trip wraps Sunday afternoon at Royal LePage Place against West Kelowna, a 2:30pm puck drop against the West Kelowna Warriors.
