The Powell River Kings made sure that the Cowichan Valley Capitals would be the only club catching an early morning sailing back to Vancouver Island on Friday morning, capping off their first-round playoff series with a 6-0 victory at the Powell River Recreation Complex on Thursday evening.
The Kings came out of the gates strong, outshooting Cowichan Valley by a 17-4 margin in the first period while taking a two-goal lead on late markers by Cody Rainaldi and Jordan Grant. Daniel Carr and Rainaldi scored in the second to double the Powell River lead, and the result did not seem in doubt by the time that Matt Garbowsky scored back-to-back power-play goals in the final 20 minutes.
Josh Watson faced 25 shots in the shutout victory, including 14 during a second period Caps' push. At the other end of the ice, Laurent Brossoit did his best to hold off a determined Kings attack with a 36-save performance.
The first star on the night was none other than Garbowsky, who used the series to announce his arrival as a gamebreaker for the defending Coastal Conference champions. The 19-year old was a point-a-game player in his first regular season in the BCHL, but took his game to another level with 12 points in the five-game battle against Cowichan Valley.
The Kings now join the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the second round of the playoffs, with their opponents to be determined based on the results of the two other match-ups currently ongoing on the Coast:
- On the Mainland, the Langley Chiefs used a near-complete home ice effort that included four power-play goals to take a 3-2 series lead on Surrey. The teams traded five goals, all on special teams, during a wild first period before the Chiefs scored twice in less than two minutes early in the second to blow the game open.
Josh Myers and Jordan Sims each scored twice for the home side, who chased Eagles starter Vinny Lessard shortly after the first intermission. Lessard was replaced by Mike Chan, who had little opportunity to get comfortable before Sims found himself in alone and scored on a well-executed deke.
The Eagles have less than 24 hours to re-group before facing an elimination game at the South Surrey Arena on Friday. - Just when the Nanaimo Clippers looked to be on the ropes, the club put in an excellent road effort to rebound from back-to-back losses with a 4-1 victory at Bear Mountain Arena. The Clippers took the lead early on a Kyle Weber effort and refused to be knocked off track when Brad Pawlowski tied the game on a late period power-play.
Carson Schell and Teal Burns then scored midway through the second to put Nanaimo ahead for good, and Joe Perry added insurance at the 8:00 mark of the third period. Loic Boivin was solid in net, turning aside 26 of 27 shots including 12 in a first period Victoria flurry.
The series now returns to Nanaimo with Clippers holding a 3-2 lead and needing just one more victory to secure an impressive first-round upset.
