The Kings battle back to a 5-3 victory over the Voyageurs
Lac la Biche, October 28 - The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Hockey team continue their winning ways with a 5-3 victory over the Portage College Voyageurs.
The Voyageurs came into this game in last place with a 0-4 record but it's the opposite for the Kings as they were tied for 1st in the division with a 3-1 record.
However, it was the Voyageurs who struck first early on in the first period. An icing call was waived off so goaltender Arik Weersink decided to play the puck, but it was intercepted by Logan Spence. He would swing it out front to a wide-open Blake Astorino who would put it past an out of position Weersink to take the lead. This would be Astorinto's first goal of the season.
Not long after the first goal, the Voyageurs would capitalize again to make it 2-0 before the 10-minute mark of the first period. It was play that started in their own defensive zone when Gavin Mattey decided to flip it out to Ty Budai near centre-ice. Budai would race in on an odd man rush and snap it over the glove of Weersink to score his second of the season.
After Gavin Mattey of the Voyageurs was sent to the box with a slashing penalty, the Kings would capitalize on their second powerplay of the game. Forward Dylan Esau would take the puck down the boards before passing it to his teammate Deegan Mofford. He would then drive down the goal line, cut in and lift it over the Voyageurs goaltender Jacob Gnidziejko to cut the lead down to one. Brennan Davis would get the secondary assist on this goal.
This would do it for the scoring in the first period with the Kings outshooting the Lac-la-Biche team 16-6.
It was a much closer second period with the teams matching each other's shot total with 14 in the period. But it was the Voyageurs who would get the only goal of the period to take a 3-1 lead going into the dressing room before the start of the third period.
A late powerplay was given to the home team after the Kings Nolan Doell would take his second tripping minor right after he served his first two minutes in the box. Less then 20 seconds to play, the Kings would win the face-off in their own zone but some good forechecking led to the Voyageurs stealing the puck and putting it on goal. This is where Brayden Dale would pounce on the rebound to take a two-goal lead going into the third period. The assists on Dale's first goal of the season went to Spencer Kennedy and Brody Dale.
Something must have been said in the dressing room chat but it sure energized and pumped up the Kings Hockey squad as they were able to score four straight goals.
Three minutes into the third period, the Voyageurs would ice the puck which meant a face-off in their own end. After the Kings won the draw, it was sent into the corner where forward Sean Michalevich would send a pass into the slot before taking a hit. Ryland McNinch would retrieve the pass and flick it over Gnidziejko to cut into that lead early.
Just under five minutes later, veteran forward Chance Longjohn would tie it up at three with a slap shot just inside the blue line. The assist on Longjohns third goal of the year went to defenceman Ty Ettinger. These two teams would battle it out for the next eight minutes of the game to see who would take the lead which ended up being the Kings with a powerplay goal from Hayden Clayton assisted by Jacob Wozney and Chase Haygarth. This is Claytons third goal of the season.
The Kings were not done there though as they were looking for that important insurance goal. Forward Erik Miller would fire a shot from beyond the face-off circle in the Voyageurs zone. The goaltender for Portage College gave off a rebound and could not corral which is where Nolan Doell would pay for this mistake. This would the Kings fifth goal of the match with the assists going to Miller and Haygarth.
The players of the game went to Kings forward Dylan Esau and Voyageurs forward Logan Spence who each had an assist in this 5-3 Kings victory.
The two teams will face-off in a rematch tomorrow at 1 pm. Catch it live on ACACTV.