Frantic finish can’t bail out Kings

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

Keenan Ogle came a knob-save away from tying the game with 5.3 seconds remaining in the third.
Unfortunately, Jordan McCallum’s knob deflected the puck out of play, preserving the Stettler Lightning’s 3-2 lead over the Strathmore Wheatland Kings during Heritage Junior Hockey League action Nov. 12 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“Matt (Thomson) was working hard in the corner and made a tough pass to me,” said Ogle. “The puck skipped a little bit and it just went off his knob. It would have been real nice, but that’s the way she goes sometimes.”
The Kings (5-9-3) best effort came in desperation time in the third. Just prior to Ogle’s glorious opportunity, McCallum robbed Kristian Ayoungman on the doorstep on a sweet feed from Brooker Pretty Youngman with 1:35 remaining and the net pulled.
But the Kings were more concerned with how they started as opposed to how they finished.
“I don’t think we came out with our best effort. Yeah, their goalie made a bunch of saves, but we have to bear down and come ready to play if we want to capitalize on our chances,” said Kings head coach Shadoe Stoodley.
The Lightning (7-7-1) entered five points out of the final playoff spot in the north division. They also clipped the Kings 7-6 back on Sept. 30 in Stettler.
“It doesn’t matter to me or the team who we play,” said Ayoungman. “We need to come out ready to play and start picking up these points.”
The turning point came during a three-minute stretch from the end of the first overlapped with the start of the second period.
With 3.1 ticks on the clock, Lightning rookie defenseman Bryce Cornelissen piped home his third goal on a blast from the point.
The ice was still damp from the intermission when the Kings hottest sniper took over.
Ayoungman calmly walked into the slot and rifled the puck top shelf. After a slow start to the season, Ayoungman now has points in eight of 11 games.
“He’s starting to fly around out there,” said Stoodley. “He has lots of skill, lots of speed, he works hard and now the bounces are starting to go his way. That’s important; we are going to need a go-to guy to get points for us.”
Twenty-nine seconds later, Kings forward Jake Faris took an elbowing penalty. The Lightning capitalized, when Dylan Houston buried his 10th from Logan Davidson and Cornelissen.
“That power play goal was pretty big for us,” said Lightning head coach Gavin Brandl. “You could see our bench got a little deflated once they tied it early in the second. That was a big swing in the momentum for us.”
Faris got one back for the Kings at the 12:18 mark when Thomson came streaking down the left wing, shook Lightning defender Tyler Wagner and set up Faris for a wide open one-timer.
The Kings have been outshot in 14 of their 18 games, and once again leaned on Brady Hoover to keep them afloat.
Hoover was outstanding in his 32-save performance, which is his average workload through 14 starts. Hoover is second in the league for shots faced with 503. The Three Hills product carries a 4.07 goals against average and a 0.891 save percentage in his fifth season (second with the Kings).
Matt Sylvester snuck one past the Kings masked man when he pulled a Brett Hull, launching a one-timer on the power play from one knee with just over two minutes remaining in the second.
The Kings narrowly missed their opportunity for their first weekend sweep, after they shelved the Three Hills Thrashers 3-1 Nov. 11 at Three Hills Centennial Arena.
Defenseman Andrew Sample returned to the lineup from a shoulder injury and found the back of the net. Zachary Meadows added a goal and an assist and Pretty Youngman supplied the winner at the 9:02 mark in the second from Hayden Vanderploeg.
Up next for the Kings are two games against the top teams from the northern division. First, a road game at the Didsbury Recreation Complex against the Mountain View Colts (12-2-2). The Colts trimmed the Kings 5-2 Oct. 1 in Strathmore.
Their next home game goes Nov. 20 against the Airdrie Techmation Thunder (13-3-2). The matinee is set for 2 p.m. at the Strathmore Family Centre.
The Thunder iced the Kings 7-6 in overtime back on Oct. 14 at Ron Ebbesen Arena.