Bisons spoil Kings’ season-opening series
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Doug Taylor Photo
The Kings (0-1-1) opened the season in a home-and-home series with the Okotoks Bisons (4-0-0) Sept. 21-22.
Last season, the Bisons took the season series 3-1 and outscored the Kings 22-17. The season before that, the Kings only managed one win.
For 54 minutes of the Kings home opener, it appeared as if they were on track to already match that win total from the previous two seasons.
But then the habits of the old Kings’ teams came back to haunt them, as the Bisons came back late and won in a shootout 3-2 Sept. 22 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Rookie netminder and local product Riley Stovka was cruising and could smell a shutout.
Hayden Vander Ploeg got called for an elbow, which allowed Mitch Wolfe to breathe some life into his bench and the Bison fan base that made the trek for the series finale.
Less than a minute later, Brenden Moore was sent to the box for cross checking. It didn’t take long before Connor Taylor wired a shot over the glove hand of Stovka.
“Our biggest obstacle tonight was the penalties. We took a couple tough ones in the third that cost us,” said Kings Head Coach Joel Robinson. “Those were two veteran guys who took those penalties late. And to their credit, they owned up to it to the rest of the team and the new guys after the game. It was important for our young guys to see that responsibility and see that those kinds of actions aren’t OK. It may be early, but we want to eliminate that kind of undisciplined play.”
Last year, the Kings often took themselves out of games or prevented comeback possibilities with their infractions. They were the second-most penalized team within the southern division and were in the bottom half of the league in penalty kill percentage (81.48).
With the shutout lost, it could have been easy for Stovka to cave and allow the Bisons to steal victory from the jaws of defeat in regulation.
The Bisons were buzzing and made a real push to end it before overtime, but Stovka stood tall.
With 3:22 remaining, he kicked out his toe to prevent a wraparound goal by Kyle Dunville and later bailed out fellow rookie Kelton Travis, who blew a tire alone in his own end and allowed Josh Russo to uncork a pointblank shot at Stovka.
“I knew from watching them last night that they like to shoot from anywhere on the ice and crash the net,” said Stovka. “I just tried to stay with the play and give my team a chance.”
Overtime solved nothing, so the Kings tried to grab the extra point in the shootout.
The Kings went 1-2 in the shootout last year and were bested by the Bisons when their captain Kyle Harrison sniped the five-hole on Stovka.
Kyle Bracko was stopped by the right pad of Devin Reagan. The next shooter for the Bisons completed the comeback when Jason Horn wired one past the low blocker of Stovka.
“You can’t ask more out of goalie than what we did this weekend. I wanted to give Riley the start because of the dedication he showed this year,” said Robinson. “I figured he would have some jitters tonight playing in front of so many people who know him, but he responded well to the pressure.”
Stovka finished the evening with 32 saves.
The netminder wasn’t the only rookie on display in the home opener.
Stovka’s former teammate in the Wheatland Athletic Association put the Kings up early just by throwing a puck on net.
“(A.J.) Kusu and I were coming in on a rush and I tried to sauce it to him in the middle, but the pass got disrupted and went off one of their guys,” said Eric Sandum. “I’ll still take it – a goal is a goal.”
His centering pass banked off defender Tyler Bordt and in, while sophomore forward Garret Vander Ploeg rang one off the bar and in for his first of the season.
The Kings’ attempt to split the series fell short after they dropped the season opener 4-2 one night earlier at Murray Arena.
Three rookies combined for the opening goal for the Kings, as Isaac Benoit finished off a passing play from Bailey Filkohazy and Lucas Muenchrath on the power play. In the third, Tyler Wirth pounded home a puck from Jaks Faris and Rylee Hebert.
Brett Willan got the honour to start between the pipes but was under siege and faced 56 shots.
“I thought Willan still played well. He stood on his head for parts of that game and kept us in it,” said Robinson. “They got an empty-netter at the end, but I still liked how we competed.”
The Kings will look to build off the early season lessons when they turn around and host the Stettler Lightning (1-1-0) Sept. 28 at the Family Centre. The following night, the Kings will be at the Servus Arena in Red Deer to take on the Vipers (1-1).