The Powell River Kings winning streak hit seven Friday night after a 5-3 win over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs at the Weyerhaeuser Arena.
For the fourth game in a row, the Kings jumped out to a multi-goal lead in the first period.
Opening the scoring was Gavin Rauser as he came down the right wing into the Bulldogs zone. He stepped around the defender and took a quick shot that eluded the goaltender Brody Claeys for his third goal of the season at 6:40.
Four and a half minutes later, Jack Long threw the puck at the Alberni net and Hunter Findlater jumped on the rebound to knock home his second goal of the season.
The Kings offence continued to flash in the second period as they extend their lead to 3-0 on the power play.
A shot from the point was knocked into the air by Carson Schamerhorn, who replaced Claeys after Findlater’s goal, and Cam Donaldson knocked the puck out of midair for his seventh of the year.
The Bulldogs argued the puck was punched into the net, but were only rewarded with another penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Kings couldn’t take advantage of the ensuing power play, and shortly after it ended the Bulldogs got on the board.
A centring pass by Ryan Steele from the right wing bounced off a Kings skate and was sitting in the slot for Alex McDonald who slapped home his second of the year to cut the Kings lead to 3-1 with just under nine minutes left in the frame.
The goal seemed to give the Bulldogs life, as they continued to pressure and found the back of the net again as Trevor Cosgrove scored his first BCHL on a drag shot from the high slot on the power play less than three minutes later.
Alberni continued to pressure and nearly tied the game, but Brian Wilson covered the puck on the goal line after a wraparound attempt from Quinn Syrydiuk.
Late in the frame the Kings took advantage of a lucky break. Malik Kaila tripped at centre ice which allowed the Kings to come in two-on-one. Carter Turnbull held the puck on the right wing before throwing it across for Tristan Mullin who tapped home his fifth of the season to restore the Kings two-goal lead heading into the third period.
The Kings then regained their three-goal lead early in the third as Donaldson took the puck away from the Bulldogs defneceman behind the net while shorthanded. He came out in front and waited for Schamerhorn to go down before firing the puck blocker side for his second of the game to make it 5-2.
The Bulldogs got a late one back when Auggie Moore one timed a puck past Wilson on the power play, but some big saves by Wilson in the final minutes gave the King their seventh straight win.
Powell River now puts their winning streak on the line at the Frank Crane Arena Saturday night gains the Nanaimo Clippers. The Kings are coming off a 7-1 win over Nanaimo back on Sept 28, but haven’t won in Nanaimo since February 19 of last season, a stretch of four games.
