Kings Prolong Series:

Kings prolong series

by Don Klepp -

Apr 11, 2009

Facing elimination, the Powell River Kings came out of the gate with two goals in the first period and went on to defeat the Vernon Vipers 4-1, at home on Friday night. Neil Chambers started the Kings on the right foot with a solo effort at 4:41 of the first period. His long wrist shot rolled off Andrew Hammond and Chambers followed the bouncing puck and collected it unimpeded. He whipped behind the goal and beat Hammond to the far post with a wraparound, to the delight of 1137 Powell River fans. Six minutes later, Clay Harvey followed the Chambers goal with his first of the series. His wicked rising wrist shot found the upper right corner of the net before Hammond could react. The Kings were the hungrier, quicker team in the opening period, which showed up in the shots on goal (11-5), the scoring chances (6-4), and the score (2-0). The Vipers out hit the Kings 11 to 4, but the Kings kept on coming. The Vipers continued to hit the Kings in the second period and had an overall edge in the play. Also, they scored the only goal of the period, courtesy of the Jones line. Forechecking hard, Connor and Kellen freed up the puck in the high slot. As it lay untended, Sahir Gill roared in with a hard, low slap shot that found the corner of Carsen Chubak’s net. Both teams had other chances in the period, with both goaltenders displaying their quick reactions. On the best chances, Hammond robbed Erik Vos in close and Chubak did the same to Connor Jones. The Kings summoned their best checking effort of the final series in the final frame, holding the Vipers to nine shots and six scoring chances. With one and a half minutes remaining, Hammond was pulled for a sixth attacker, but Clay Harvey potted an unassisted empty netter at 18:54. Then, four seconds after a mix up in the Viper end gave Powell River a power play, Reid Campbell’s point shot slotted through a maze of bodies in front for the final goal of the evening. By then, the players were thinking about packing for the long bus ride to Vernon and Sunday’s game at 7 p.m. in the Wesbild Centre.