Clippers take first game of weekend series against Kings

Red Deer, AB - A depleted Red Deer Polytechnic Kings lineup pushed the first place Briercrest College Clippers to the end, but couldn't find the equalizer in the third period. The Clippers picked up a 5-3 road decision. 

"We did battle back," said Trevor Keeper, RDP Kings Hockey Head Coach. "We got ourselves to a spot where we could have possibly tied it up in the third period." 

The Briercrest College Clippers opened the scoring at 12:51 of the first period. Off of a two-on-one, Kings netminder Kristian Lyon (Business Administration General Management) made the initial save, but Briercrest's  Zachary Thususka picked up the rebound and deposited it into the net.

Five minutes later, the visitors went up a pair. With traffic in front, the Clippers took a shot from the top of the left circle and it eluded Lyon. Jaedon Little was credited with the goal.

Before the end of the period, the Kings' power play went to work, resulting in back-to-back tallies. At 18:12, second-year forward Holden Knights blasted one past Clippers goaltender Alex Worthington from the top of the circle.

Only 45 seconds later, RDP's first year defender Kevin Minnoch evened the contest 2-2 with a shot from a similar spot.

Early in the middle stanza, the Clippers went ahead 3-2. Jacob Dale corralled a puck that bounced off the end boards and found space behind Lyon. With 2:23 left in the period, Reagan Poncelet converted a two-on-one into a two goal cushion for Briercrest.

About midway through the third period, Nolan Doell (Bachelor of Education Middle Years) picked up a rebound and finished the backhand to bring the Kings within one.

With Lyon on the bench in favour of the extra skater, Briercrest's Colton Aikens found the empty net. The Clippers won 5-3.

"You have to resort to play simpler and we tried to make a few too many cute plays. Even at the end when it's six-on-five, you just have to throw pucks at the net, get there and bang it in," added Keeper. "We were tired and made mental mistakes."

Doell earned the North Star Sports Kings Player of the Game.

Doell (12)

Poncelet received the award for the Clippers.

Lyon made 22 saves. Alex Worthington turned aside 23 shots.

The RDP Kings went two-for-five on the power play. The Clippers couldn't convert on four opportunities with the man advantage.

Unfortunately, injuries have started to pile up for the Kings.

"We lost three veteran defencemen for the year. Layne Toder has a broken leg. Ty Ettinger is out with an ACL tear. Brennan Davis had shoulder surgery," said Keeper of the team's injury woes. "That's a huge hole. We have forwards playing defence. Up front we lost Chase Haygarth who got injured tonight."

In a rematch, the RDP Kings will host the Briercrest College Clippers on Saturday, February 24 at 1 pm.

"We know we will be short staffed, so we will have to be simpler," said Keeper. "We have to take short shifts. We have to reload and come back tomorrow and we have to win to earn a first round bye."

The Clippers (17-6) sit in first. The NAIT Ooks (14-10) are in second spot, only a point ahead of the Kings (14-9). The top two teams in the standings earn a bye in the opening round of the playoffs.