The Dauphin Kings are alone in first place in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division after a split in a home-and-home with the expansion Niverville Nighthawks over the weekend.
Niverville surprised the Kings, Friday night in Dauphin, scoring a 5-2 victory in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.
Ethan Whillans and Luke Schaefer staked the Nighthawks to a 2-0 lead after the opening frame and they increased their lead to 4-1 after 40 minutes, with Desmond Johnson and Brett Tataryn giving the visitors a 4-0 lead before Jayden Harris put the homeside on the board with his 12th of the season.
The teams traded goals in the third period.
Owen Wareham’s power-play goal midway through the frame, his third of the campaign, brought the Kings to within two, but Johnson sealed the win with his second of the game into an empty net.
Chris Fines was called upon to make 28 saves in the win, while Dmytro Kubritskyi stopped 23 shots in the loss.
Dauphin rebounded in a big way in Sunday’s rematch in Niverville, building a 5-0 lead and hanging on for a 5-2 victory of their own.
Myles Yearwood staked Dauphin to a 1-0 lead in the first period with his eighth of the season.
The Kings increased the lead to 4-0 after two, on goals from Nicholas Hatton, his second, Nolan Wickham’s sixth and Mason Smith with his 11th.
Deepkaran Hans tallied his 12th of the year early in the third before the Nighthawks got on the board with a pair of power-play markers from Hayden Wheddon and Josh Paulhus.
Cole Sheffield was stellar in goal for Dauphin, making 40 saves, while Dane Couture was credited with 27 stops.
At 25-15-2-1, the Kings sit alone in first with 53 points. Waywayseecappo, Swan Valley and OCN are tied with 51 points, while Virden is two points back with 49. Neepawa brings up the rear with 45 points.
This week, the Kings travel to Virden, Tuesday, for a 7:30 p.m. face off, before hosting the Winnipeg Freeze, Friday, and the OCN Blizzard on Saturday. Both games at Credit Union Place get underway at 7:30 p.m.
Kings court:
Kings head coach Doug Hedley enters the week only two wins behind former bench boss Marlin Murray for most coaching wins in team history. If the Kings beat Virden on Tuesday and Winnipeg on Friday, Hedley will have a chance to become the alltime winningest coach in Kings history against OCN on Saturday. Murray finished his tenure as Kings head coach with 348 wins, while Hedley has 346.
