Kings come up short against Capitals
Michael Corson’s spectacular arrival as a B.C. Hockey League goaltender continued Friday night, and it came at a great time for the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
They made the long trip from Duncan to venture into a tough rink at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, where only three other BCHL teams this season have won in regulation time, and leaned heavily on the Corson, who made 38 saves in a 2-1 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings.
For the 18-year-old Corson, a native of Darien, Ill., who joined the Capitals a couple weeks ago from the Blind Valley Beavers of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, it was just another day at the office. He backed the Caps to a 5-3 win in Powell River last Friday, stopping 41 of 44 shots, and it was more of the same against the Spruce Kings.
The go-ahead goal came with 5:22 left on the clock. Jonathan Stein took a pass on the fly along the right side and put it into passing gear, blowing by defenceman Chays Ruddy to get free and he finished with a high shot in behind Evan DeBrouwer.
“We just couldn’t score, we had plenty of opportunity and generated some offence but we couldn’t bear down and get the job done,” said Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes, who watched from his usual perch in the pressbox.
“We definitely need a better effort from our top guys up front and they need to bear down and put some pucks in. But their goaltender was fabulous tonight, we shot a lot of pucks right at him. He’s a young guy and we’ve heard he’s been doing well this year and he proved it here tonight, for sure.”
Despite being outshot 32-12 in the first 40 minutes the Capitals and Kings were deadeven on the scoreboard, tied 1-1 heading into the third period. And just as they did Dec. 17 when they beat Prince George 5-2 in Duncan, the Capitals found a way to win.
Hustle and a burst of speed on the penalty kill from Spruce Kings forward Ben Poisson led to the opening goal of the game 6:17 into the first period. Poisson won a footrace for a loose puck inside the Capitals’ blueline. He got a hard shot on goal that was turned aside by Corson but Ben Brar tracked down the rebound and scored from a sharp angle, his 19th of the season.
The Caps tied it with the only goal of the second period. Troy MacTavish forced a turnover along the side boards in the Prince George end and the puck came to Ty Pochipinski, who spotted Azzaro Tinling standing all alone in front of the Spruce Kings net and fed him a pass he rifled into the net.
The Kings are off for the rest of the weekend before they start preparations for their toughest week of home games so far this season. They host Penticton on Thursday, Vernon on Friday and Powell River next Sunday afternoon.
LOOSE PUCKS: Sam Anzai, 19, made his Spruce Kings’ debut Friday playing right wing on a line with Blake Hayward and Jarod Hovde. He was acquired Wednesday in a trade for futures from the Vernon Vipers. D Oliver Lester was held out of the Kings’ lineup as a healthy scratch. The 20-year-old Los Angeles native, acquired from Coquitlam Wednesday in a trade for 17-year- old winger Ryan Stack, drove up Thursday in his own vehicle from Coquitlam but got into an accident near Quesnel when his car left the highway in icy road conditions… Earlier this week the Cougars signed 17-year-old homegrown defenceman Brennan Malgunas for the 2018-19 season. The son of nine-year pro right winger Kevin Malgunas, he’s in his second season with the Cariboo Cougars of the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League and is the leading scorer among defencemen with nine goals and 22 points through 23 games. He was a first-team all-star playing for the Cougars in the Mac’s Invitational midget tournament over the Christmas break… Spruce Kings assistant equipment manager Malcolm Poburan is in Prince George Rotary Hospice House and had a visit Thursday with the entire Kings team. Poburan has been with the Kings dating back to the 1970s when they played in the Peace-Cariboo Junior Hockey League.