Kings Handle Caps 5-3

 A wild hockey game played out in front of 800 fans at the Hap Parker Arena on Friday. The Kings  overcame  a two goal deficit in the second  period and  scored  5 consecutive goals en route to a 5-3 victory. If it wasn't for Derek Dun this game would have been over early.

The Cowichan netminder stood on his head in the first period stopping all 17  shots he faced from Powell River,  who threw everything at the 17 year-old except the kitchen sink. Dun showed great poise and rebound control in the first period to keep his team's head above water.

The Kings had their chances, including a 5 minute power-play after Alex Halloran was booted for a blow to the head of Cohen Adair late in the first period. That power-play carried over to the second, but Powell River  could not  capitalize.

Mike Hammond scored short-handed on that very same penalty   kill to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Jordan Grant shortly after popped in a power-play marker to increase the red & blue advantage to 2. Brendan Forbes would score late on a 2 on 1 to bring the defecit to 1  entering the third .

However Cowichan's total lack of discipline came back to bight them.

Newly acquired Ashton Bernard was more interested in turning this game into his personal circus than anything else. The  hulking forward continually crossed  the  centre  ice red line  during warm ups, laying lumber to Kings that skated by. Bernard watch the first ten minutes of the game from the penalty box for his transgressions. But that wasn't his only stop there. In the third,  Bernard  was given a 5 minute major for cross-checking Mike Sones after Mike Garbowsky's first goal.   He actually butt-ended the winger as he skated to congratulate Garbowsky on his tally. That infraction resulted in 17 penalty minutes and a game misconduct for the Devils draft pick. Yes, he was selected in the 6th round in the 2009 entry draft.

The Kings took advantage of the Capitals thuggery and capitalized  4 times in the period, including tallies from  Steven Schmidt,  Cohen Adair and one more in the empty net from Garbowsky.


The ugliest continued right down to the final buzzer as Brendan Forbes was carved at centre ice with Cowichan sticks. That incident resulted in two seperate fights, Forbes combatting with Keyler Bruce and Justin  DaSilva squaring off against Dillon Houghton. The latter was a spirited affair with DaSilva getting the decision.

This game was a tale of two halves. Cowichan in the beginning was  playing hard and  was awarded  with  two goals. However,  as the game progressed, so did their stupidity. The Kings simply turned it on when they had to and stayed away from the side show that was the Capitals.

Final Shots 48-16 Powell River
Power-Play PR: 1-7 CV 2-6
Three Stars:
1. Matt Garbowsky 2G 1A
2. Brendan Forbes 1 G
3. Derek Dun 44 Saves on 47 shots.

Powell River: 16-4-1-1 (34pts)
Cowichan: 4-16-0-2 (18pts)