The Boston Gold Kings (BGK), coming off a tough road loss back on Feb. 7th, put together a strong and disciplined effort on Valentine’s Day night in front of their home crowd, running away with a 9-4 win. Nine different Gold Kings littered the scoresheet and Goalie Mike Cowell, while maybe not as a sharp as some previous games, was still there when needed to post the win. The Gold Kings move to 7-5-0-2 on the season and with two games remaining in the regular season hold a 4-point lead over third place Holyoke.
The Gold Kings got off to a great start when Nick McNally, flying down the right side and going upstairs with a wrister, made it 1-0 1:38 into the first period. But last-place Norfolk, with only two wins on the season, found their skating game and put two past Cowell 10 minutes apart to take the lead 2-1 for the one and only time on the night. The Gold Kings righted the ship with a huge goal with a minute forty one left in the period off the stick of fourth-line Center Mike Delisio to tie it two. Delisio and McNally both had excellent nights and were named two of the three stars post-game.
One of the bugaboos for the defending champion Gold Kings this season has been a lack of disciplined hockey at times. Whether taking silly penalties or failing to clear the zone or missed assignments, their game has not always been as clean as they would like it to be. On this night, though, the Gold Kings looked much sharper and in control. Second period goals by M. Baldino, Drizen and Cebula paved the way for a third period explosion, as the Gold Kings simply wore down the Mallards. Despite being a last-place team, Norfolk could skate, but they were vulnerable with ever other aspect of their game, and the Gold Kings took advantage. Goal-scorers Forte, Carta, DiCostanzo and Smith made sure of it after a pretty quiet start to the third period. But once the clock hit 8:54, it was all Gold Kings till the final whistle. Final score, Gold Kings 9 Mallards 4.
Next up? A date with the monster of the 5-team league, first-place and undefeated Hudson Valley. The Reapers, in year one of their existence have simply dominated. Not only have they not lost, they’ve scored 98 goals while only allowing 44. They also have a great fan base that travels well. They came to the JAR last month in droves, and are sure to be attendance on March 1. The Gold Kings believe they can play with the Reapers. They owned leads in both games at Hudson Valley before falling, 4-2 and 5-3. Their loss to the Reapers at home was great game after one period, tied at 1. But the Reapers stormed the Gold Kings in periods 2 and 3, and the Gold King’s undisciplined play reared its ugly head at the worst possible time to a team ready to pounce, ultimately leading to a 6-1 Gold Kings loss.
The Gold Kings absolutely want to prove to themselves that they can play with Hudson Valley before the post-season begins, and I’m sure they would love to ruin the Reapers undefeated season. Stay tuned! March 1 at 4:05 at the JAR- be there or be square!
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1 2 3 F
Norfolk 2 1 1 4
Boston 2 3 4 9
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1st Period
BGK 1 Norfolk 0… McNally from Lounsbury @ 1:38
BGK 1 Norfolk 1… Gionennini @ 5:11
BGK 1 Norfolk 2… Bowers @ 15:21
BGK 2 Norfolk 2… Delisio from J.Doherty @ 18:19
2nd Period
BGK 3 Norfolk 2… PPG, M.Baldino from McNally & C.Baldino @ 4:01
BGK 4 Norfolk 2… Drizen from Carta & Friedman @ 4:55
BGK 4 Norfolk 3… Buffet @ 10:06
BGK 5 Norfolk 3… Cebula from Isamatov @ 10:42
3rd Period
BGK 5 Norfolk 4… Griffith @ 5:38
BGK 6 Norfolk 4… Forte from Delisio @ 8:54
BGK 7 Norfolk 4… Carta from Clark @ 10:15
BGK 8 Norfolk 4… DiCostanzo from MacKenzie & Cebula @ 12:22
BGK 9 Norfolk 4… PPG, Smith from DiCostanzo & Isamatov @ 17:34
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Remaining Regular Season Schedule
Sunday March 1 vs Hudson Valley @ The JAR at 4:05 pm
Saturday March 7 vs Salem @ The JAR at 7:20
Playoffs to Follow, TBD…