The Kootenay Ice busted out of their funk in a big way last night, overcoming a slow start to pound the Edmonton Oil Kings 7-3.

Kevin King’s four-point night helped cap Kootenay’s losing streak at three games.

His linemates were also busy: centre Steele Boomer had a goal and an assist, while captain Dustin Sylvester’s first goal opened the floodgates for the Ice (40-22-3-2).

“I think Boomer’s line, all three of them, were ready to play right from the start,” said assistant coach Kris Knoblauch. “Because those guys were ready to play from the start, it gave us a chance. If they weren’t, I don’t know if we’d have been able to rebound from the way we started the game.”

Kootenay turnovers punctuated the opening 10 minutes, giving Edmonton a 2-0 lead before the first period was half over.

They got their first goal on a power play; after Todd Mathews made a save, he tried to clear the puck but hit Mike Piluso with it. Piluso spun and fired it in.

Four minutes later, the Oil Kings (16-38-4-9) benefited from some puck luck when Tyler Hlookoff’s shot hit Mathews in the mask, bounced off Dylan Wruck and came to rest in the net.

The Ice coaches called a timeout where Knoblauch said they urged their players to, “settle down, refocus and start from scratch, which we did.”

The approach bore fruit on a penalty kill in the 16th minute, when King drew the attention of an Edmonton defender, allowing Sylvester an unhindered path to the net. He made good, scoring his fifth shorthander of the year.

“I think that was a real confidence boost for the guys,” said Knoblauch. “We really hadn’t generated much and didn’t have many scoring chances, and we were able to score. Sly makes a great play, and the guys got pretty excited on the bench.”

They tied the game early in the second, moments after killing off another penalty.

Boomer was behind the net, and sent the puck in front. It hit a defender’s skate and King was able to backhand in his 25th of the campaign.

In the spirit of backscratching, King assisted on a Boomer goal less than two minutes later. Cam Lanigan then replaced goaltender Torrie Jung.

The Ice kept up the pressure and got a few open attempts before Max Reinhart scored his 20th of the year.

“I think everyone realized it wouldn’t be a cakewalk,” said Knoblauch. “I know the guys are prepared to work, and somewhere in their mind it just tells them it’s going to be easy and we don’t get a good performance.”

Shortly after Mathews made a big save for the Ice, the puck came up the length of the rink and Matt Fraser scored his 30th.

Edmonton struck 34 seconds later as rookie Stephane Legault celebrated his 17th birthday with his first goal in the WHL.

Fraser scored his second goal on a delayed penalty 1:35 into the third, while Brayden McNabb rounded out scoring with a powerplay laser at 11:10.

Drew Czerwonka collected three assists skating alongside Fraser and Reinhart. He took the place of Jesse Ismond, who had suffered a charley horse earlier in the game.

Knoblauch said Ismond would have played through in a playoff game, but the coaches decided they’d sooner err by being cautious.

“We’ve got two very important games this weekend. We’d like him to not aggravate it and be ready to play on the weekend,” said the coach.

Last night’s seven goal outburst was the first time Kootenay scored more than four since their 6-3 win over Saskatoon on Valentine’s Day.

“I think a lot of guys have been looking at the last time they’d scored, and when the games start piling up, it gets tougher and tougher to score,” said Knoblauch. “It was nice to get a lot of guys on the scoresheet because I thought they deserved it.”

Keeping ahead of the Joneses

The two teams chasing the Ice for fourth spot in the Eastern Conference also played last night. The Red Deer Rebels lost 3-2 to the Prince Albert Raiders; the Medicine Hat Tigers needed a shootout to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors by the same score.

The Tigers and Rebels both have 80 points to Kootenay’s 85.

“If you’re going to make a push in the playoffs, it’s a lot easier to do starting at home,” said Knoblauch. “It could be one less road trip you have to make, and home ice advantage could be very important.”

Calgary has sewed up the Central Division title with 46 wins and 95 points.