After a spirited effort led to a 4-3 victory over the Portage Terriers, Nov. 22, the Dauphin Kings stumbled in a home-and-home with the Neepawa Titans.
Neepawa scored a 5-1 win over the Kings, Friday in Neepawa, before scoring a 2-1 win in Dauphin on Saturday.
As a result the Kings find themselves in third place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division, two points back of the Swan Valley Stampeders and one up on the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the Kings were not very good in Friday’s game against Neepawa.
“We were terrible. We weren’t very good. Had no jump,” he said.
Special teams played a role in all three games, last week. Dauphin did not have a single power play against Portage, which scored twice on five chances with the man advantage. On Friday, the Titans scored three times in five chances, including a five-on-three late in the second period when the Kings were called for three minor penalties three seconds apart.
On Saturday, Neepawa had a goal in four power plays, while the Kings only had two chances with an extra man.
Hedley said the calls on Friday changed the game.
“We chased the game the whole time. It was a bad goal the first one. He (Marko Belak) just missed it. Missed a wrist shot from the blueline. The second one bounced off two sticks and bounced in,” he said. “We had come back and were all over them in the second and they gave us three penalties, two different guys on the same stoppage.”
Hedley hopes this is the kind of adversity the team can learn from. The Kings, he felt, were the better team on Saturday.
“We deserved better. I thought our guys worked hard. It’s just we’re not crashing, we’re not going to the paint hard enough. We’re not getting traffic, we’re not getting in front of his eyes and taking his eyes away,” he said, adding some players had outstanding games, among them Jonathan Wong, who returned to the lineup after missing several games.
“I think our energy was better. Shift after shift in the second period, they never got out of their zone. We had all kinds of chances. Pucks didn’t bounce our way. Sometimes you go through it. But (Neepawa goalie Mason) Lobreau definitely stole the game for them,” Hedley said.
The game was Teddy Bear Toss Night for the Kings. After a scoreless first period, fans finally got to throw their stuffed toys onto the ice when Myles Yearwood scored at the 10 minute mark.
The weekend marked the debuts of forwards Aaron Neal, who was acquired from the British Columbia Hockey League’s Powell River Kings, and Roblin’s Jakob Brook, who was released by the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats.
While it will take time for the newcomers to get used to the systems, Hedley feels the Kings will get better as time goes on.
“We’ve got a good hockey club. Now it’s a matter of finding ways to score and keep pucks out of our net,” he said.
The Kings are expected to make more roster moves this week, as Dec. 1 is the deadline to get down to 25 players.
The Kings will play the Winkler Flyers in a home-and-home this weekend. Friday’s game is in Winkler, with the rematch in Dauphin on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
