Willows Leads Kings To Victory From Crease - Kings Remain Undefeated

May 4, 2010

Dauphin Kings kept their unblemished record intact at the RBC Cup with a last-minute 3-2 win over La Ronge IceWolves.

The victory, the third in three games, guarantees the Kings first place in the four-team, sudden-death playoffs on Saturday. The Kings’ opponent? The boys from Saskatchewan - La Ronge, which now owns a 1-2 record.

“I don’t want to start with a negative, but I thought it was our worst game of the tournament,” Kings GM/Head Coach Marlin Murray told CKDM-Dauphin.

“I thought we sat around at times. We had a real good emotional game on Monday. But we’ll get better after tonight. I wanted our energy level to get up today; I thought we laid back and were on our heels.

“We’re known for having a real-good third period…good teams find a way to win,” said Murray, whose club wraps up the RBC Cup round-robin Wednesday night against Central reps Oakville Blades.

 “We need to get better and regroup,” said Murray. “We’ll be fine.”

Vernon Vipers will take on Brockville Braves in the other semi-final Saturday.

Last night’s hero was Mr. Reliable, Shane Luke, who scored on the powerplay with less than three minutes remaining in the third. It was his second of the night and ignited the partisan Credit Union Place audience into a deafening roar. The goal was made possible through the playmaking ability of captain Steven Shamanski, who made a perfect pass to Luke.

Surprisingly, it was Shamanski’s first point of the RBC Cup.

“I was overdue,” Shamanski said of his RBC points drought. “I had my chances that’s for sure. But I just couldn’t bury. It was a good time to get my first point that’s for sure!”

Shamanski, who was recently named the MJHL’s Player of the Year recipient, agreed with his coach’s assessment regarding the Kings’ lack of spark against the IceWolves.

“We might have been a little complacent,” said Shamanski. “It might have been a bit of nerves…we knew what was on the line for us tonight…getting first in the pool. We got it going better in the third period.”

Deadlocked 1-1 after 20 minutes, Luke snapped the tie in the second period. Rounding out the scoring for the Kings was Bryce Lamb. Both goaltenders, Adam Bartko for La Ronge and Brett Willows for the Kings put on a goaltending clinic. Snipers for both sides were left shaking their heads in shock, after being robbed time and time again.

In the earlier game Tuesday, Vernon Vipers improved their record to 2-1 with a 5-3 victory over Oakville Blades, who remain winless after three starts. The loss also eliminated the Blades from the RBC Cup sudden-death playoff format.

Shamanski admitted Wednesday’s game will be a key one for his Kings.

“We want to play well, win the game and keep our momentum going into Saturday’s semi-final,” he said.

EXTRA POINTS: Players of the Game on Tuesday were Kings’ defenceman Joel Kot and Bartko for the IceWolves…With his three-point outing Tuesday, Luke now leads all RBC Cup scorers with seven points (4-3)…Despite not playing Tuesday, Kings’ netminder Joe Caligiuri leads all goaltenders with a 3.50 GAA, .897 save percentage and 2-0 record...IceWolves’ captain Dustin Stevenson recently signed a three-year entry level contract with Washington Capitals.