Kings drop road game to Voyageurs

Brent Forster - RDC

Friday evening, the Red Deer College Kings faced the Portage College Voyageurs on the road and a strong Voyageurs' third period helped them pick up a 7-4 home win. 

The Kings struck quickly in the first period. Tyler Berkholtz beat Olivier Charest at 0:28 to give the RDC Kings an early 1-0 lead. Lynnden Pastachak set up the goal. Colby Livingstone, of Portage College, tied the game at 12:55 and Max Robitaille found the back of the net to give the Voyageurs a 2-1 edge at 17:06. The Kings outshot the Voyageurs 9-8 in the period.

The RDC Kings connected for three straight goals in the second period. At 1:18, Tyler Berkholtz scored his second goal of the game. Tyrell Mappin and Trevor Costello had the helpers. Then Chase Thudium beat Charest at 14:53. Tanner Butler and Damien Kulynych recorded the assists. With 32 seconds remaining, Tanner Butler scored on the power play to give the Kings a 4-2 edge. In the period, RDC put 13 pucks on Charest. Portage College had 5 shots on Mike Salmon but the fifth-year goaltender from Red Deer turned all of them aside. 

In the third period, Portage College scored 3 straight goals to pull ahead 5-4. Salmon was pulled on two different occasions for the extra attacker and the Voyageurs capitalized on the empty net both times. The home team picked up a 7-4 win. In the period, Max Robitaille and Benjamin Parent each scored a pair and Colton Sandboe added a single. 

The Portage College Voyageurs held a 5 shot edge (14-9) in the period. Over 60 minutes, the Kings fired 31 shots at Charest. The Voyageurs tested Salmon 27 times. 

Kings Hockey Head Coach Trevor Keeper wasn't pleased with the overall effort and result. "Our better players were only good offensively tonight," said Keeper. "There were also too many defensive breakdowns in the game."

The third place RDC Kings (16-7-2-0) will compete against the Portage College Voyageurs (3-20-1-1) in Lac La Biche on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a weekend rematch.