By ADVOCATE STAFF
Kings 6 Huskies 2
FORT MacMURRAY — Despite a close to a 10 hour bus ride the RDC Kings were able to find their legs quickly and pull out a 6-2 victory over the Keyano College Huskies in Alberta Colleges Men’s Hockey League play Friday.
“We were able to keep it scoreless for the opening period, which was fine with us after the long bus trip,” said Kings head coach Trevor Keeper.
The Kings took a 3-1 lead in the second period.
Logan Sceviour led the RDC squad with a pair of goals with singles added by Mike Marianchuk, Brett Printz, Doug Jones and Kirsten Odendaal.
Kraymer Barnstable, who was making his first appearance in the second half of the season after recovering from a tear to a stomach muscle, made 32 saves.
“He just came back this week and said he was ready to go and he was . . . he was sharp,” said Keeper.
The Kings scored three times on nine power plays and killed off all five short handed situations.
“We were able to use our speed and forced them into penalties,” he explained. “We also did a great job on the penalty kill.”
The teams meet again this afternoon.
Queens 3 Ooks 1
EDMONTON — A day after a disappointing loss at home to the NAIT Ooks, the Queens turned it around and recorded a 3-1 victory at NAIT Friday.
“We came out and took it to them at the start,” said Queens head coach Bob Rutz. “On Thursday we were losing some battles to them along the boards, that wasn’t the case tonight. We did a great job defensively.
“It seems like every time we challenge them they rise to the occasion.”
The only negative in the game was when veteran centre Ashley Graf broke her arm when she got tangled up and fell into the boards.
Emily Lougheed, Rikki Leonard and Laura Salomons scored once each for the Queens with Jade Petrie picking up three assists.
Camille Trautman finished with 27 saves while the Queens had 19 shots on Jill Diachuk.
The win left the Queens six points up on the SAIT Trojans in a battle for the third and final playoff spot. The Trojans have three games remaining, including a home-and-home series with RDC, beginning Thursday in Red Deer.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com