As Cowichan Valley Capitals is the only team standing between Powell River Kings and the playoffs starting in March, Sunday’s game at Hap Parker Arena was a big one.
Surprisingly, the early pace of the game was tentative at best, but the Kings rallied late to win 3-2 and move within inches of clinching a playoff berth.
This was a game of fatigue versus rust as the Caps were coming off back to back games with Nanaimo, which they split, while the Kings were getting into the first game of the weekend.
Neither team looked sharp in the opening period, but Cowichan got the first break at 13:49 when a point shot took a couple of deflections and drifted in off the Kings’ post.
During the break, Kings were reminded of who was the most rested team and with much more urgency Drew Dorantes evened the score 1-1 at 2:03.
Tied 1-1 after two periods, Luke Nogard was the beneficiary of hard work by Landon Robin and Stephen Hiff when he drilled the go-ahead 2-1 goal from the crease at 5:41.
As the game progressed, Kings looked comfortable with the slim lead, but Evan Richardson lost control of the puck coming out of his own end and Garrett Skrbich scooped it up. He beat Kings’ netminder Jonah Imoo with a feint and slipped it through his legs to tie the game 2-2 at 6:39.
Happily for the Kings and Richardson, he seemed like a player possessed when he took a loose puck off the wall in Cowichan’s end, was knocked to his knees, but bounced right up and wired a shot from 20 feet to win the game 3-2 for his team.
Things didn’t go quite the way coach and general manager Kent Lewis drew it up, but he was pleased with the second period effort.
“The first period we just didn’t show,” he said, “but the second and third we did. Probably mathematically for them, today was their big game and they didn’t get it.”
Robin made an attempt to fire up the Kings at 9:08 of the first period when he and Caps’ Ryan Coghlan had a spirited fight.
That is a tactic which has all but disappeared from a coach’s game plan as Lewis said, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, “These days you can go to jail or you can get fined thousands of dollars for doing that.”
Robin, however, took the risk, saying, “A little pushing and shoving, then some words and we just decided we were going to go. Both of us were trying to get our teams going.”
He also got creative when he assisted on the Kings’ second goal of the game. “It was definitely a big goal so we’ll take it,” he said.
Kings were still missing James Neil, Jarryd Leung and Brandan Smith with injuries, but the healthy return of players like Jordan Paddock, who received the game’s third star, is solidifying the back end. “I’ve had a lot of trouble with injuries,” said Paddock of his 21 games missed, “but it’s nice to get back and get a rhythm going.”
He acknowledged the slow start of the game, but said the team responded well. “We kept it positive. As players it’s important that we really support each other.”
Of the rest of the schedule he said, “It’s just one game at a time and as long as we keep focused on each game I think we’ll be fine.”
The focus starts with a big game against Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Friday, February 15 and then West Kelowna Warriors on Saturday, February 16. Both games take place at 7:30 pm at Hap Parker Arena.
DIVISION: Island Division
TEAM GP W L T OTL PTS OTW
Victoria 49 32 11 0 6 70 7
Nanaimo 46 26 17 0 3 55 2
Alberni Valley 47 23 18 1 5 52 5
Powell River 50 19 22 2 7 47 1
Cowichan Valley 45 11 30 1 3 26 4
