The Cents battled for the full 60 minutes and were rewarded with a regulation victory over the Powell River Kings to kick start their Island road trip with a 4-3 win.
Jerzy Orchard continued where he left off on Sunday by potting in a rebound to the side of the net to make it 1-0 3 minutes in. Payton Matsui found Manty for the initial shot from behind the net. The Kings were able to quickly answer, but then Cents to their first powerplay of the game where the Cents quickly scored. Once again it was Matsui, who from the half-wall was able to spot Captain Rylan Van Unen back door to make it 2-1. The Kings wouldn’t answer until late in the first when Jack Long would throw a puck on net from the corner and it would somehow find a hole against the toe of Marshall to tie the game 2-2 after 20 minutes. Shots after 1 were 14-12 in favour of the Cents.
The second period was largely uneventful until the final minutes. The Cents were able to kill of some early penalties, and were able to capitalize when they got the chance late in the frame. The Cents were about to go to a 2-man advantage when Head Coach Derek Sweet-Coulter saw a turning point and called a time out. After a great play by Werenka to keep it alive at the blue line, Matsui took the puck skated to the left side and sniped one top corner to give the Cents the 3-2 lead with 15 seconds left in the 2nd. Then with just 3 seconds left Hunor Torzsok got the tip in front to make it 4-2. Shots after 2 were 26-23 Cents.
The final frame saw the Cents in survival mode, and despite giving up an early goal on the powerplay hung on in the final minutes to edge the Kings. Tanner Marshall stopped 31/34 shots en route to his 6th win in a Cents uniform.
After the game, Head Coach Derek Sweet-Coulter said the team played their heart out and held on.
“These guys played great and were the better team 5-on-5 in the third. They made the simple plays, didn’t try and get too fancy and it paid off.”
The Cents will look to take the simple win into Saturday night against the Cowichan Capitals, a 6pm start.
