POWELL RIVER, B.C. – It looked as tough it was going to be one long night at the Hap on Saturday for the Powell River Kings.
The visiting Victoria Grizzlies were poised to ruin the Kings’ BCHL home opener Saturday at Hap Parker Arena, after Ryan Nolan gave the visitors a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead 37 seconds into the middle frame.
But the Kings never stopped battling.
With 35 seconds to go in the middle frame, Matt Fawcett scored the Kings’ first goal of the franchise’s 31st season to narrow the cap to 3-1 after 40 minutes.
Momentum spilled into the final period, with Fawcett scoring his second of the night 40 seconds into the period to make it 3-2.
It was the first of four unanswered goals by the Kings, who came away with a 5-3 Â victory.
Liam Lytton tied the game at 3-3 at the 7:02 mark of the frame, before Mitchell Williams tallied the game winner with 7:09 to go in regulation.
Then, with Victoria goalie Kurtis Chapman on the bench for an extra attacker, Williams added an empty net goal with one second to go in the game.
The Kings owned the third period, outshooting the Grizzlies 16-7.
Powell River goalie Mitch Adamyk stopped 26 of 29 shots to earn the victory.
A big crowd of 1,200 fans took in the contest.
ICE CHIPS: The game was the first of three home contests to open the Kings’ 2017/18 campaign. They host Nanaimo back-to-back on Friday and Saturday at the Hap.
Game time on Friday is 7 p.m.
Saturday’s game gets underway at 5 p.m.
