Kings down Flyers

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

The Strathmore Wheatland Kings needed an extra period to beat one of their hated divisional rivals in the High River Flyers 5-4 on Feb. 1 in High River.
The Kings started out slow and had to battle back from several deficits to get the victory.
“We were down a few times but we just kept shooting,” said Kings assistant coach Chris Williams. “We were able to tie up in the third; it ended up going into overtime and we got the win which was a huge breath of relief.”
Kings forward Robert Butterwick scored a big goal to tie the game up and send it to the extra frame. Kings goaltender Brett Willan protected the net and centre Lucas Muenchrath had two goals in the contest, including the game winner. Muenchrath usually sticks to the passing department and has had a strong season with 48 points in 36 games.
“He wasn’t having the best game to start so I was on him to shoot the puck more,” said Williams. “He took that and ran with it. In the third period and overtime you could tell he just wanted to shoot the puck and he got rewarded for it.”
With the win, the fifth-place Kings record stands at 16-17-3 and they are now fighting for home ice advantage in the first-round playoffs with the fourth-place Medicine Hat Cubs. Another divisional rival, the Cubs are 17-16-3. Their last two games against the Kings were very spirited affairs with both teams knowing a playoff matchup was likely in their future.
The Kings enter their last weekend of regular season play with two home games at the Strathmore Family Centre scheduled. The Cochrane Generals have had the Kings number this year and they will play their final game against each other on Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. The Kings will close out their season against the Lomond Lakers on Feb. 9 at 8 p.m.
“It’d be nice to get two more wins and head into playoffs with some momentum,” said Williams. “Hopefully we can claim home ice for the first series. That’s the goal going forward.”