Pembroke Lumber Kings’ fans got their first look at the team last night in a 4-1 win over the Carleton Place Canadians at the Pembroke and Area Community Centre.

In a physical contest from the start and penalty-filled first period, Pembroke came away with a 2-1 lead after one. Brian Hennessey opened the scoring seven minutes in when he buried the puck behind Carleton Place starter Justin Laforest.

Kelly Summers pulled the Canadians even with an unassisted marker at 7:24 and Jordan Larson scored on his own rebound with less than five to go to give the Kings a one-goal lead heading into the second.

Pembroke maintained the slim margin thanks to good defensive plays to clear the puck out of harms way and a strong penalty kill when the Kings were at a two-man disadvantage for 1:20. Tyler Gaudet and Liam Biard cleared the puck numerous times and Andy Munroe also made a big save when it counted.

After a scoreless second, Emilio Audi and Patrice Wren scored in the third to put the game away.

In the practice shootout following regulation time, Munroe got help from the post on two shots and stopped Luke Edwards, while Ben Dalpe scored the only shoot-out goal for Pembroke. Audi and Stephen Hrehoriak were the other Kings ‘ shooters.

The Kings have a busy weekend as they travel to Carleton Place tomorrow night for a 7 p.m. contest and round out the exhibition schedule Sunday night when they take on the Kanata Stallions starting at 7 p.m. at the Pembroke and Area Community Centre.

Tina Peplinskie is a Daily Observer multimedia journalist

Twitter: @TPeplinskieOBS

tina.peplinskie@sunmedia.ca