Butler and RDC Kings win in double overtime over NAIT Ooks

Brent Forster - RDC

In their final regular season game, the Hockey Kings faced the NAIT Ooks on the road and when 65 minutes couldn't decide a winner the Kings scored in double overtime to take four of a possible four points against the first place Ooks over the weekend. 

At 15:13 of the first period, the Kings hit the scoresheet. Chase Thudium beat Nathan Park to give RDC a 1-0 lead. His brother, Dylan Thudium had the lone assist and the two siblings from Sylvan Lake have been playing well together. The Kings tested Park early and often and outshot the Ooks 17-9.

After NAIT's Issac Farrah tied the game 1-1 at 3:28 of the middle frame, Tanner Butler found the back of the net to give the Kings a 2-1 edge. The fourth-year student-athlete from Souris, Manitoba scored on the power play with 1:50 remaining in the period. Dylan Baer picked up the helper. RDC held a 12-7 shot advantage in the period.

The Kings maintained their one goal margin until 6:15 of the third period when Francis Menard knotted the contest 2-2. Both goaltenders were unbeatable the remainder of the period and the game headed to overtime. The Kings fired 11 shots at Park. Troy Trombley had 7 shots to contend with in the final frame.

When 5 minutes of 4-on-4 hockey couldn't decide a winner the game headed to 5 minutes of 3-on-3. The Kings were looking for two points in the standings and pulled Trombley for the extra skater. The strategy worked and with 15 seconds left on the clock Tanner Butler scored his second goal of the game and the Kings sealed a 3-2 double overtime victory. Tyler Berkholtz assisted on the winner.

Kings Hockey Head Coach Trevor Keeper liked several aspects of the game. "It was a tough game. Our special teams were good and our guys were disciplined tonight," said Keeper. "We wanted to pick up the win and with 30 seconds remaining we called a timeout and pulled our goalie for the extra attacker. Brandin Cote drew up the play and with 15 seconds left Tanner Butler scored."

The RDC Kings were in playoff mode this past weekend and played some good hockey. "We feel playoff ready and will prepare this week for Concordia," said Keeper.

The Kings went 1-for-4 on the power play and killed off all 3 of the Ooks' opportunities. The Kings outshot the Ooks 45-26. 

The Red Deer College Kings finished the regular season on a positive note by sweeping the weekend series over the NAIT Ooks and going 7-3 in their past 10 games. In the four game season series against the Ooks, the Kings impressively earned seven out of a possible eight points.

The RDC Kings (19-7-2-0) finished in third spot in league standings with 40 points and will be matched up against the sixth place Concordia University Thunder (7-18-3-0) in the best of three quarter-finals series.