Kings drop season opener in Merritt
Game recap is presented by Iris Optometry
Friday marked the start of a new season for the Kings, coming off a preseason that saw them go 2-2-1 they headed to Merritt to face the Centennials for their one and only meeting this season. This would also mark the first time the Kings started the season on the road since the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
The Kings would get off to a tremendous start as Carter Lundie scored the opening goal just 93 seconds in with a backhander from the left circle to put the Kings up early. They would carry the momentum in the early portions of the game and had numerous opportunities to extend the lead but Centennials netminder Andrew Ballantyne made a number of key saves early to keep his team within one. At one point the Kings were outshooting the home side 9-2, but the Centennials got better as the period went on. They would eventually tie it up late in the period as Ryan Spinale scored on a breakaway to even it up 1-1 after the opening 20. Shots were 14-13 Merritt.
The Centennials would carry on the momentum from the late first period tally into the second and within the first 2:30 of the period Tim Kim would score twice to make it 3-1 for Merritt. After a rough couple minutes by the Kings, they would push to regain some momentum and square up the score. They would manage to pull themselves within one at 9:43. They Kings failed to score on a 5 on 3 power play but would continue to apply the pressure at 5 on 4 and would get rewarded. The puck came in front of the Merritt goal and Anthony Lucarelli who was standing at the top of the crease would make a between the legs pass to Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero who was wide open on the left side and would put the puck in the open cage to make it 3-2. Lucarelli and Van-Houtte Cachero would connect just under 3 minutes later with Anthony Yu being the middle man, taking a pass from Van Houtte-Cachero and then finding Anthony Lucarelli back door for the tap in to even it up 3-3 which would be the score heading into the 3rd.
The Kings would get off to another good start in the third period but were unable get another puck past Ballantyne. The Cents would find themselves on a power play in the third, and Kings defenseman Zander Stewart would have some trouble settling down a bouncing puck in front of his own net, and Cents forward Zachary Losier would swipe at the loose puck and send it towards the next and got past Owen Crudale who wasn’t expecting the shot. Now with a 4-3 lead Merritt would add one more just over a minute later when Jonathan Wong unleashed a wrister from the top of the offensive zone to make it 5-3. The Kings would push hard to attempt a two goal comeback again, but the Centennials were not going to let that happen again and held of a late Kings attack to win the season opener. The final shots were 41-38 for Merritt.
Kings goalie Owen Crudale would make 36 saves in his BCHL debut while Anthony Lucarelli and Noah Eyre each finished with a pair of points.
The Kings will now return home in search of their first win of the season. The home opener will be on Friday September 29th against the Victoria Grizzlies, then they will host the back to back Fred Page Cup Champions Penticton Vees in the Truth and Reconciliation Day Game on the 30th. Both games are at 7pm.
To add to the opening weekend festivities, the Kings are excited to have 6x Stanley Cup Champion and Hall of Famer Glenn Anderson at the Hap for both games. He will drop the puck for the ceremonial face off on Friday and be available for pictures and autographs.
Tickets are available online at tickets.powellriverkings.com