In Lac La Biche, Kings pick up impressive 6-2 win

Saturday in Lac La Biche, the Red Deer College Kings Hockey team faced the Portage College Voyageurs in a weekend rematch. Portage College was within a goal as the 3rd period began, but the Kings exploded for 3 goals in the final frame to seal a 6-2 victory. Troy Trombley got the start in the Kings' net while Olivier Charest got the call for the Voyageurs.

Eli Jarvis opened the scoring at 7:09 of the 1st period to give Portage College a 1-0 lead. At 18:14, Zak Hicks responded for the Kings to tie the game 1-1. Riley Simpson picked up the lone assist. The Kings had a 10-8 shot advantage in the opening period.

At 2:37 of the 2nd period, Eli Jarvis scored his 2nd goal of the game to give Portage College a 2-1 advantage. A little over 4 minutes later, Tanner Butler capitalized on the power play to even the contest 2-2. Landon Kletke picked up the assist. Dylan Thudium gave the Kings a 3-2 lead at 12:07 on the power play. David Heath and Scott Ferguson picked up the assists. RDC tested Charest 10 more times in the 2nd period, while Portage College had 4 shots on Trombley.

The Kings continued to pressure the Voyageurs and at 4:17 of the 3rd period Austin Hunter increased the Kings' lead to a pair (4-2). Nick Fountain and Blair Mulder assisted on the goal. At 8:16, Austin Hunter scored his 2nd of the game to give the Kings a 5-2 lead. Logan Sceviour and Arie Postmus set up Hunter's goal. With 7:23 left in the game, Tyler Berkholtz scored an unassisted goal to give the RDC Kings a 6-2 cushion. Time ran out and the Kings picked up a 6-2 road victory. The Kings outshot the Voyageurs 10-4 in the 3rd period. 

The Kings' special teams were clicking. RDC connected on 2-of-3 power plays and also effectively killed off all 4 of the Voyageurs' opportunities with the extra skater. 

Kings Hockey Head Coach Trevor Keeper was happy with many aspects of Saturday's game.

"The guys played well tonight. Our puck management and special teams were strong," said Keeper. "Out of all of the shots that we had on their goaltender, many of them were high quality shots." 

The Red Deer College Kings picked up 4-of-4 points on the weekend and improve to 23 points in ACAC Men's Hockey. In the standings, the Kings remain in 5th spot and the top 6 teams qualify for the playoffs. 

Next weekend, the RDC Kings face the University of Alberta (Augustana) Vikings in a pair of games. Friday, Feb. 17 the Vikings host the Kings at 7:30 p.m. In the 2nd half of the home-and-home series, the RDC Kings face the Augustana Vikings at the Penhold Multiplex at 7:00 p.m.