Kings skate to 4-2 win in Penhold

The Red Deer College Kings Hockey club came into Friday's game against the Portage College Voyageurs sitting in 5th spot in ACAC Men's Hockey with 19 points. The Kings have been working hard and were looking for a strong game against the Voyageurs to help solidify a playoff position. The top 6 teams qualify for the postseason. The Kings opened the scoring, had several strong efforts and picked up a 4-2 home victory.

Mike Salmon started in the Kings' net while Olivier Charest got the nod for the Voyageurs. The RDC Kings had their skating legs early and moved the puck crisply. At 1:53 into the 1st period, Scott Ferguson gave the Kings a 1-0 lead. Dylan Thudium and Arie Postmus picked up the assists. RDC had the better chances in the 1st period. About 6 minutes later, Landon Kletke beat Charest on the glove side but his shot rang off the post.

Shots were even 7-7 in the opening 20 minutes.

The RDC Kings came out flying in the 2nd period. Only 12 seconds into the middle frame, Dylan Baer found the back of the net to give the Kings a 2-0 lead. Riley Simpson picked up the lone helper. The Kings continued to press. On a 2-on-1, Jordan McTaggart made a nice pass to Trevor Costello who joined the rush. Charest made a left pad save off Costello's redirection to keep Portage College within 2 goals. With 9:23 left in the period, Dylan Baer fired a long wrist shot and beat Charest on the stick side to increase RDC's lead by 3. Trevor Costello picked up the assist.

The Kings had a 15-3 shot advantage in the 2nd period.

At 19:27 of the 3rd period, Carson Johnstone scored for Portage College to reduce the Kings' lead 3-1. With 4:23 remaining, Logan Sceviour put the RDC Kings up 4-1. Austin Hunter sent Sceviour in alone with a stretch pass. The forward from Red Deer faked the backhand and tucked the puck between Charest's pads on his forehand. At 18:05, Richard Cameron scored for Portage College to bring the Voyageurs within 2. Portage College pulled Charest in favour of the extra attacker but could not beat Salmon. The Kings picked up a 4-2 home victory.

The Voyageurs outshot the Kings 9-7 in the 3rd period. Over 3 periods, the RDC Kings had a 29-19 shot advantage. 

Dylan Baer was named the Kings player-of-the-game. The Electrical Engineering Technology student finished with a pair of goals and skated hard.

Kings Hockey Head Coach Trevor Keeper was happy with the effort and result.

"It was a solid game tonight. We want to keep playing the right way. Right now it's about finishing our final 5 games by doing all the little things right, playing within our system and making sure every individual is playing their best hockey," said Keeper. "We asked the players to do that and they did that tonight. We have to carry that forward for the next 5 games, 1 game at a time."

Logan Sceviour often finds himself excelling in a defensive role but was rewarded with a nice goal tonight.

"Logan is 1 of our best shut-down players and top 2 penalty killing forwards. He's got a good shot. Maybe he's been a bit snake-bit this year but he's scored 2 goals on breakaways this season," said Keeper. "Austin (Hunter) and Logan have some good chemistry. That was a nice heads up play by Austin to find Logan and he made a nice quick deke to put it 5 hole."

Dylan Baer had a good game and fit nicely on a line with Riley Simpson and Tyler Berkholtz.

"Dylan's played really well since Christmas. He's a great skater and can be really gritty. We moved him up to the Simpson line and on the point on the power play," said Keeper. "He's got a quick shot and can put some heat on his shots. He's creating things for himself because he's working hard and moving his feet."

Mike Salmon made 17 saves and picked up the win in the Kings' net.

"Mike was solid tonight. He was an all-star last year and played his best hockey down the stretch," said Keeper. "When he plays with confidence he is one of the best goalies in the league."

The RDC Kings improve to 21 points and remain in 5th spot in the standings. 

Saturday, the same teams face each other in Lac La Biche at 7:00 p.m.