The Terrace River Kings are gearing up for game two of CIHL playoff action after a win over the Kitimat Ice Demons on home ice last weekend.
“They played excellent, they just keep getting better and better, and now they’ve got their teeth into Kitimat,” said general manager of the River Kings Ray Hallock.
During the matchup last Saturday night, the Kings got off to a slow start in the first half of the game, before coming back strong in the third, hammering the Ice Demons with three goals in the last period for a 5-4 final result.
It was Kitimat who started the scoring off in the first period with a goal six minutes in by Terry Whelan, with Terrace answering back a minute later with an unassisted goal by Joey Cormano.
Going into the second period tied, Wade Marsch took another lead for the Ice Demons three minutes in, with Terrace’s Josh Murray tying things up again for the Kings three minutes later.
However, before the period’s end, Marsch would get another puck in the net, as would Joshua Marsch, bringing the Ice Demons to a 4-2 lead going into the third.
“We didn’t play very well in the first two periods and found ourselves down 4-2,” said Kings’ captain Steve Cullis.
The final period was all River Kings’ action as Derrick Jurista and Cullis scored minutes apart at the five and six minute mark and Murray took the game on a breakaway goal with less than two minutes on the clock.
“We came out really determined in the third, and tied the game up early in the third, which set the stage for Josh to score the game winner,” Cullis said.
The River Kings will next face off against the Ice Demons this Saturday at 8 p.m. in Kitimat. Should they win the game, they will advance in the playoffs, and should they lose, a third and final match will take place against the Ice Demons in Kitimat Sunday at 1 p.m.
“This weekend I’m hoping we come prepared and play well for the full game,” Cullis said of game two this Saturday night in Kitimat. “If we do that, I feel we can be successful.”
