Kings stunned by lowly Lightning at home

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

A brotherly connection couldn’t elevate the Strathmore Wheatland Kings to victory at home Oct. 14 against the Stettler Lightning.
The Kings turned what looked to be an easy win for the pickings into a 4-2 defeat at the Strathmore Family Centre.
While the coarse voice of bench boss Shadoe Stoodley reverberated through the concrete walls and into the hallways and players exited the arena with their heads bowed, one family was able to salvage the evening event.
For the first time in their lives, Hayden and Garret Vander Ploeg shared the same ice and same uniform.
“I would always watch him growing up; we never played on the same hockey team, just baseball,” said Garret, who is three years younger than Hayden and two inches shorter. “It’s pretty cool watching him out there now from the ice and the bench. I would say we are pretty in sync; we get dressed the same way, he knows where I am out there and I always know where he is.”
Garret was nowhere to be found on the Kings opening goal when Hayden netted one of the easiest two-on-one goals that Kings fans will see this season.
Hayden jumped up on the rush with winger Jaks Faris, crashing to the net. He blew past the final defender with relative ease, as Fairs hit him with a pinpoint pass on time for the easy tap-in.
That goal and the remainder of the first period – despite being tied 8-8 in shots after one – made it seem like the Lightning were on the trolley tracks and headed for blowouts-ville.
The Kings controlled the play with a heavy forecheck, crashing into puck-carriers on the half and end walls.
The 1-0 lead at recess felt underwhelming.
Having already knocked off two of the top dogs in the HJHL, it looked like the Kings were going to grab the Lightning, who entered the game 1-5-0, by the throat and pick up the easy two points.
But something changed during the second intermission.
The Lightning either woke up and hit the gas, or the Kings hit the snooze button and entered cruise control – or some horrible combination of the both.
Kings blue liners were getting caught pinching in plays, allowing a series of odd man rushes, and the Lightning could have entered the zone with eggs in their pockets and came out unscathed.
In net for the Kings was rookie Cole Bright, who was fresh off his first win last weekend, and his athleticism was put to the test all night long.
In the first, a reckless rebound shot out to Tanner Steinwand, who had the top bunk picked out, but was robbed by Bright’s glove.
Later, rookie defenceman Jaden Doiron tried to pinch at the blue line, but the puck bounced past him, allowing a three-on-one the other way. Bright did his best to manage the situation, sticking a pad in the way before the desperate Kings’ defender slammed into the net trying to back-check.
“He was the reason this game was close tonight,” said Garret about his goaltender. “We hung him out to dry tonight.”
Again with the glove later in the second, Bright flashed the leather when Brendan Bardwell was turned away. The spectacular stop was one of 32 on the evening for the Creston, B.C. product.
The Lightning tied in the second following a Kings power play that went 0-for-3 and never looked like it had a threatening chance.
Then, Bradley Tingey coughed up the puck on the offensive blue line, allowing Bardwell to tap in the textbook two-on-one from Dylan Houston.
The Kings were battling, trying to pull even, when last year’s top rookie Kody Hammond tipped a Hayden point shot that snuck through Taylor Frank’s five-hole, but was somehow pulled off the goal line.
In the third, captain Keenan Ogle had a glorious short-handed opportunity to start the frame, but sent a shot wide.
Cayden Spady later coughed up the puck to alternate captain Cole Busslinger beneath his own goal line, but Busslinger lost the handle in tight.
It was at the 13:36 mark of the third when Brenden Moore calmed the puck down behind his net. He sent it over to Hayden for the breakout, where he spotted his brother streaking up the wing.
Gaining the zone, Garret cut to the heart of the slot and wired a shot past Frank to tie the game at two.
“I was thinking, ‘man, I need to put this in the net somehow,’” said Garret. “Growing up at the outdoor rink with my cousins, he has always had the puck behind the net and I’ve always been on the right wing. If he has the puck, I’m pretty confident that he’s going to make the right moves to get the play going. He’s great that way.”
The great breakout pass was topped by an even greater celebration, as the jubilation of his first goal was too much to contain. Garret went full George Laraque, jumping into the glass.
A pair of uncontrolled and lost rebounds doomed the Kings in the closing minutes of the third, as they dropped to 3-3-1.
“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities tonight and it cost us in the end. We were moving slower tonight than we have all week,” said Bright. “We always have to go into the game expecting them to challenge us. We need to come out the same way and on top of the scoreboard.”
Last season, the Kings went 0-2 against the Lightning, dropping both games by one goal.
Back then, the Lightning were the fifth seed in the Northern Division, finishing with an 18-17-3 record, with 39 points and a minus-16 goal differential. That put them three points and three goals better than the Kings.
The path to redemption is a challenging one, as the Kings head to Okotoks Oct. 20 to take on the Bisons at Murray Arena.
The Kings will also take part in a rare mid-week game Oct. 25 when they travel to the Three Hills Centennial Arena to battle the Three Hills Thrashers.
The Kings won’t play in the Family Centre again until Oct. 28, when they host the Ponoka Stampeders.