Kings beat Vees for first win of the season

Weekend Recap is presented by Iris Optometry

The Kings kicked off their home schedule this past weekend as they took on the Victoria Grizzlies and defending Fred Page Cup Champions Penticton Vees. In the home opener on Friday the Kings would play in front of packed Hap Parker Arena with the announce attendance of over 1600, plus Hall of Famer Glenn Anderson would be in attendance to take part in the pregame festivities.

The home team would get off to a tremendous start against the Grizzlies and would give the fans something to cheer about with the opening goal 11 minutes from Will Jones. Grizzlies forward Reegan Hiscock would tie the games minutes later but the Kings would jump right back in front 16 minutes in when Noah Eyre finished off a pretty passing play with Christian Maro and Adam Mendelson to make it 2-1. The lead would move up to two, two minutes later when Anthony Yu scored his first of the year, as the Kings we’re rolling after the first.

In the second the Kings would continue where they left off and would make it 4-1 on a 5 on 3 power play goal from Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero. That goal would spell the end of the night for Grizzlies goalie Oliver Auyeung-Ashton who made 10 saves on 14 shots. It seemed the Kings were on their way to a home opening win but the goalie change seemed to give the Grizzlies the jolt they needed as they would go on to score two more times before the period ended to trail by one heading into the third.

With momentum on their side the Grizzlies would make life difficult for the Kings who only managed 5 shots in the final period. Tim Busconi would tie the game at 9:39 then Anderson Pirtle would score his second of the game with 8 minutes to go which would end up being the game winner.

Will Jones and Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero would each have two points, while Anthony Yu had 3 in the loss.

Saturday the Kings would look to bounce back after a tough loss in their home opener as they would face the Penticton Vees.

It would be another great start for the Kings as they would score the opening goal just over 2 minutes in on a power play when Anthony Lucarelli tipped in a Will Jones shot for his second of the season. Penticton would tie it later in the period on a power play marker of their own from Ryan MacPherson as we were tied at 1 after 20 minutes.

Both teams would trade chances in the second but no one managed to find the back of the net as it remained tied going into the third. The Vees would break the deadlock midway through the third on Ryan MacPhersons second of the game scoring on a shorthanded breakaway. The Kings we’re determined not to this game slip away like the night before and pushed for the equalizer. They would find themselves on another power play with 3 minutes to go. Halfway through the man advantage Anthony Yu would send a cross ice pass to Noah Eyre who shot it past the glove on Will Ingemann to tie the game as we needed overtime.

Christian Maro almost ended OT early after he made a great move to create some space, but just ran out of room at the crease. After that the Vees would take control and winning the possession battle. Despite not having the puck the Kings defence stood tall and Owen Crudale stopped all 5 shots he faced as we heading to a shoot.

The first two shooters for both teams were unable to score as we headed to round 3. Christian Maro would be the shooter for the Kings and wristed one by the blocker on Ingemann to give the Kings the advantage. It would come down to Ryan MacPherson to send it to extra shooters, but his stick would break on the shot attempt as the Kings would win their first game of the season 3-2.

Owen Crudale made 35 saves in his first BCHL win, while the power play went 2 for 7. The would would also end a 7 game losing streak to the Vees, and it would be the first time the Kings defeated Penticton at home since 2011.

The Kings will return to the road this week as they head to Nanaimo on Friday and Duncan to face the Capitals on Saturday. The next home games will be October 13th & 14th against the Nanaimo Clippers on Parents Weekend.