It is an old hockey cliché: the hardest game to win is the one that eliminates another team from the playoffs and ends its season. Powell River Kings learned that lesson the hard way in a first-round BC Hockey League (BCHL) playoff series against Cowichan Valley Capitals.
Following a game four win in Duncan on Tuesday, March 8, Kings missed an opportunity to close out the series at home. Kings fired 49 shots toward the Cowichan net and scored just one goal. Capitals won in regulation time at Hap Parker Arena for the first time since November 2005 by a 3-1 score.
Despite the loss, Powell River still held a 3-2 advantage in the series, and headed back to Duncan for game six on Saturday, March 12. Following 11 straight games between Powell River and Cowichan won by the home team, the visitors had claimed two in a row. Kings were looking to follow that trend.
Early in the first period, in front of a large and boisterous home crowd, Capitals took the lead just 2:12 into the game. However, on the next shift, work along the end boards by Liam Lawson, Kyle Betts and Tristan Mullin generated the Kings’ first scoring chance of the game. Mullin gathered the puck behind the goal, stepped out in front of the net and beat the Cowichan goaltender at 3:11 for his third of the playoffs to tie the game 1-1.
Late in the second period, Kings defenceman Rylan Ball picked off a pass at centre ice, skated in the attacking zone and scored his first of the playoffs for a 2-1 lead.
Cowichan rebounded three minutes later to even the score through two periods.
Capitals poured pressure on the Kings, who bent, but did not break, in the third period. Several close calls were eventually cleared by the defence or covered by goaltender Jeff Smith. At the final buzzer, the score remained 2-2, sending the teams to overtime for the third time in six games.
Early in the first overtime session, Kings advanced the puck after a neutral-zone face off, with Mullin, Betts and Lawson again working in the corner. Mullin fired a shot off the goaltender from a tight angle that rebounded to the slot, and after a couple of attempts, Betts connected on a backhand, trickling the puck between the legs of Cowichan’s goaltender and over the line for the series winner.
Smith stopped 32 shots for his fourth victory of the playoffs, eliminating the Cowichan Valley Capitals four games to two in the process.
“Definitely not the prettiest goal I’ve ever scored, but no question it’s the biggest,” said Betts. “We just had a good forecheck going and the puck came out in front. We just started trying to bang it in and luckily I got a bit of it and it snuck home.”
The goal, described as a “greasy one” by Kings assistant coach Brock Sawyer, marked the second occasion in as many years that the Kings have won a first-round series in overtime, on the road, in six games.
“We battled all night and you knew the winner was going to be one like that; a goal that was on a rebound or a greasy one around the net,” said Sawyer. “Thankfully, the ice was still fresh because I don’t think it would have gotten over the line otherwise.”
The win sets up a rematch of last season’s playoff series against Nanaimo Clippers, who joined the Kings in the second round after defeating Alberni Valley Bulldogs in round one. Nanaimo ended Powell River’s 2015 season in a classic, seven-game series.
“Last year was obviously very emotional and went the distance; it was a series where the home team won every game,” said Sawyer. “We know going into this series we can win in their building, we have confidence in our guys and we know we can do the right things to come out on top.”
Games one and two are scheduled for Nanaimo on Friday, March 18, and Saturday, March, 19. Games three and four take place in Powell River on Monday, March 21, and Tuesday, March 22.
Kings won five of eight games played against the Clippers during the 2015/2016 regular season.
