Brian Drewry / Times Colonist
JANUARY 19, 2019 10:07 PM
The Powell River Kings knew if they wanted any chance of winning the B.C. Hockey League’s Island Division title, they needed to sweep the two weekend games against the visiting Victoria Grizzlies.
And thanks to their two 20-year-old stars, they did just that after a 6-1 victorySaturday at Hap Parker Arena.
Veteran netminder Mitch Adamyk stood tall in the Kings’ net, making 36 saves, while BCHL leading goal scorer Ryan Brushett scored his 31st and 32nd goals of the season as the Kings (27-16-1-0) moved to within one point of the Grizzlies (27-15-0-2) in the race for the division title. Powell River now leads the season series with Victoria 4-1. The teams will meet for another double-header Feb. 2-3 at The Q Centre in Colwood.
After dropping a 5-2 decision on Friday night, the Grizzlies came flying out of the gate Saturday with captain Alex Newhook opening the scoring with 4:30 left in the first period. It was Newhook’s 25th goal of the season and league-leading 70th point of the season for the 17-year-old Newfoundland product, who’s expected to go in the first round of this summer’s NHL draft.
Two minutes after Newhook’s marker, Brushett beat Kurtis Chapman for the first of six unanswered goals by the Kings.
Brushett, who’s headed to the NCAA and the University of Nebraska-Omaha next fall, added his second midway through the second. Levi Glasman tallied three times for Powell River, one into an empty net. Josh Coblenz had the other Kings’ goal.
The Grizzlies outshot the Kings 37-26.
The Grizzlies now head home for a brief rest before heading back out on the road to Nanaimo on Wednesday to take on the Clippers.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Grizzlies were minus forwards Charlie Campbell, Henri Schreifels and Eddie Yan. Campbell missed his second straight game with an injury, while Schreifels served the first of a four-game suspension he was handed after getting a five-minute major penalty for boarding in Friday night’s game. Yan is in Iceland playing for Team China at the Division 3 world junior championship.
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