Despite giving their opposition the most chances to score with a man advantage, Powell River Kings also lead the BC Hockey League (BCHL) in killing off those penalties.
In weekend action, West Kelowna Warriors and Cowichan Valley Capitals both failed to score on the powerplay in 18 attempts, and that was instrumental in helping the Kings beat the Warriors 4-3 on Friday and the Capitals 5-2 on Saturday.
Warriors, on a six-game winning streak, arrived in Powell River on Thursday for Friday’s clash with the Kings, BCHL’s top-ranked Canadian Junior A Hockey League (CJHL) team.
The first period reflected the importance of the game with fast pace, tight checking and very few scoring chances.
Kings finally managed to go up a goal, however, when Jarryd Leung’s persistence paid off and he banged in his own rebound at 17:52.
He added another goal at 0:46 of the second period on the powerplay but West Kelowna countered with two goals to tie 2-2 heading into the final 20 minutes.
Warriors looked poised to extend their winning streak to seven games when they got the go-ahead goal at 5:03 but Kings still had some fight in them.
They pulled goaltender Jeff Smith for an extra attacker and the move paid off when Stephen Hiff fed Drew Dorantes in the crease to tie 3-3.
They got the winner at 1:47 of the first overtime when Leung completed his hat trick with a bit of a fluky shot.
“I was just shooting for a rebound, because Hiff was coming along the wall,” he said of his low drive from just inside the blueline. “I try to get nine shots on net every game and hopefully something goes in.”
Three of them did on Friday but he shared the credit for the win with the penalty killers, which of course included a strong performance from Smith in goal.
“We outplayed them five on five but penalties killed us,” said Leung, “but Smitty bailed us out again.”
Leung’s delight on scoring a hat trick with his parents in the crowd might only have been exceeded by the coaches who were thrilled to have him back.
“It was a frustrating time off for him,” said assistant coach Chad van Diemen, “and it’s great to have him back in the lineup for sure. He brings a lot of leadership qualities, he knows the right way from his first year and he also knows the wrong way to do things from last year. He’s a good veteran voice in the room.”
Five on five for this game would have been nice but the incessant whistles stymied any attempts by either side to gather momentum.
Special team’s performance is critical for success in all levels of hockey and the Kings’ penalty kill, at 92.73 per cent, is the best in the BCHL.
Killer Kings were at it again in Cowichan when they shut the Caps down on nine powerplay tries.
After a scoreless first period, Capitals got one at 2:55 of the second.
Kings’ Dorantes and Luke Nogard each scored to take a one-goal lead into the third period where Nogard collected his second of the game to go up 3-1.
Caps closed the gap to 3-2 but Ryan Scarfo scored a powerplay goal at 15:53 and Dorantes added an empty-netter, his second, to make the final 5-2.
It wasn’t quite as easy as the score would suggest but once again good goaltending, Jonah Imoo this time, and the penalty killers earned the Kings an important road victory.
“Our penalty kill was fantastic,” said van Diemen, “considering how much ice time they had.”
Aside from the obvious disadvantage of being shorthanded, he said, “It’s tough to get momentum when it’s shift-penalty kill, shift-penalty kill.”
After a successful home stand at Hap Parker Arena that has them atop the Island division and fourth in the CJHL national rankings, Kings head out on the road for three games this week.
First stop is on Friday, October 11 in Surrey followed by Saturday, October 12 in Penticton and Sunday afternoon, October 13 in Trail.
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Forward Matt Scarth has committed to the Holy Cross Crusaders of Division One’s Atlantic Hockey for 2014-15.
