Clippers take down Kings once again

After a close loss to the Clippers Friday night the Kings would faceoff against them for the tenth and final time this season in hopes of beating their island foe for the first time.

Just like the previous game the the Clippers would score very early into the game, this time 3:23 in and Ben Kotylak shot the puck and it it just squeezed under the arm of Zak Brice. Just like the game before the Clippers would make it 2-0 as Keighan Gerrie would get the puck back after his initial shot was blocked by Dylan Hewlett and Gerrie would take full advantage of the second chance to give his lead the two goal lead. The Kings would cut the lead down to one at the end of the period as Anthony fed Mark D’Agostino who just game out of the penalty box and he had a full on breakaway and made a great move to beat Nanaimo goaltender Merik Eriksson for his 11th of the season.

On Friday the Kings trailed by two goals and managed to tie it up and they were able to do the same 45 seconds into the middle frame and Dylan Finlay put a hard pass towards the goal and then Parker LaLonde tipped it in just getting by the pad of Eriksson to even the score and to notch his 15 goal of the season. It would remain tied at two for 3 minutes until Max Itagaki would benefit off a Kings turnover to give the Clippers the lead once again. After giving up the lead once again the Kings would push to get the equalizer and they would 2 minutes later when Caleb Parkhouse made a great play off the boards to get the puck by Clippers defenceman Ethan Mistry. Parkhouse would then pass in the slot to Karter McNarland who had time and space to make a move and deke out Eriksson to score his 7th of the season and tie the game up at 3-3. Keeping the score tied was a theme for the Kings during these 2 games versus Nanaimo as the Clippers would manage to the the lead back very quickly and they got it back 90 seconds after the Kings tied it when Max Itagaki forced a turnover at the Kings blue line, then he made a cross ice pass to Sean Donaldson who one timed it in to give the Clips a 4-3 lead which they would take to the third period.

With the Kings trailing by one in the third period against a team they have yet to beat this season, the Kings seemed destined to make the comeback, however the Clippers had other plans and once more scored early in the period off a faceoff when Jake Hewitt beat Brice over the shoulder to restore the two goal lead. Over the last 5 periods versus the Clippers the Kings came back from three separate two goal deficits, but four was one too many to for the Kings as the Clippers took control in the third scoring two more times to win 7-3.

Kings now have a record of 12-23-5 and still remain 7th in the coastal conference, but the Capitals and Express are right on their tails as these 3 teams fight for the final two playoff spots. The Capitals and Express have 2 meetings this week which will have big implications on the standings. The Kings do look to hold their destiny in their own hands with 3 more games against the Capitals and 2 more against the Express.

The Kings will look to extend their cushion in the playoff race with a 3 game week coming up starting Wednesday in Alberni at 7pm. Then the Kings will return home Friday and Saturday to go against the Coastal Conference leading Langley Rivermen who are the only team in the conference to clinch a playoff spot so far. Game time for both games against Langley is 7pm.