Butler and Kings eclipse Vikings at home

Brent Forster - RDC

Friday in Camrose the Red Deer College Kings weren't happy with the way they started, but as the venue shifted to the Penhold Multiplex on Saturday evening the Kings played hard, scored the first two goals and skated to a 4-3 home win. 

Troy Trombley was the starting netminder for the RDC Kings while Curtis Skip was back between the pipes for the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings.

The RDC Kings set the pace and tested Skip early in the first period. At 15:07, the Kings were rewarded when Tanner Butler rifled a hard slap shot inside the blueline that beat the Vikings goaltender on the power play. Tyler Berkholtz and Tyrell Mappin earned the assists. The Kings outshot the Vikings 12-6 in the first period.

Minutes into the second period, the Vikings had a 2-on-1 opportunity but defenceman Trevor Costello broke up the play and quickly transitioned the puck up ice. Not long after the defensive play, the Kings went up by a pair. At 6:26, Tyler Berkholtz was stationed in the slot and beat Skip with a quick release. Lynnden Pastachak and Tyrell Mappin set up the goal. With 11:45 remaining in the middle frame, Jimmy Sheehan scored on the stick side to pull Augustana within a goal. Sheehan struck again at 11:01 low on the glove side to even the contest 2-2.  The Kings persisted and Jacob Wozney put RDC up by 1 on a nice deflection with 2:40 remaining. Damien Kulynych turned with the puck inside the blueline and fired the puck towards Skip. Wozney was parked to the left of Skip and tipped the puck into the back of the net. Tanner Butler picked up the other helper. At 17:54, Lynnden Pastachak was the recipient of a fortunate bounce for the Kings. As Skip tried to stop the shoot around behind the net, the puck squirted out to Pastachak who had an open cage. Tanner Butler assisted on the goal. With 1:12 left in the period, Cody Fiala pulled the Vikings within a goal (4-3) when he scored on a rebound in front with the man advantage. The RDC Kings tested Skip 18 times while Trombley contended with 11 shots in the period.

Both teams had several scoring chances in the third period but Trombley and Skip made some key saves. The Vikings pulled Skip with 57 seconds remaining but they couldn't score the equalizer. Trombley turned aside all 10 shots and Skip was tested 15 more times in the final period. The Kings outshot the Vikings 45-27 over 60 minutes.

Tanner Butler was named the player-of-the-game for the Kings while Jimmy Sheehan received the award for the Vikings. Butler finished with 1 goal and 2 assists.

The quick start and going up by a pair of goals set the tone for the Kings. "It's always much easier to get ahead and play that way rather than chasing from behind and burning up gas, so that was a good thing tonight," said Kings Head Coach Trevor Keeper.

Keeper had his team well prepared and the student-athletes made the necessary adjustments. "We addressed our issues from last night. The biggest issue was pucks leaving our stick and ending up on their stick which gave them opportunities. I thought that today we did a better job of close puck support," said Keeper. "Guys were coming back towards the puck carrier, cutting back through seams, getting open and making those short little passes to advance it up the ice. We kept our foot on the gas pedal. We forechecked hard and finished more checks tonight. We really focused on getting a lot of shots again. It was another game of 45 shots and we had guys going to the net for those east-to-west passes across the middle." 

Defenceman Tanner Butler had another strong game and sits in a tie for third spot in league scoring with 25 points. "Tanner is a complete defenceman. He is leading the defencemen in league scoring and is in the top five in overall scoring," said Keeper. "He is one of our best penalty killers and one-on-one I don't think there's anybody better in the league. He is very difficult to beat. Tanner is a quiet leader and leads by example - he does the right thing all the time." 

Butler and the second place Red Deer College Kings (12-5-1-0) will host the (tied for) sixth place Briercrest College Clippers (4-12-1-1) in a two-game set next weekend at the Penhold Multiplex. The two teams will square off on Friday, January 19 at 7:00 p.m. and they will face-off on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.