The Dauphin Kings find themselves in a hole after opening the best-of-seven quarterfinal series with the Swan Valley Stampeders with a pair of losses.
The Kings carried a 1-0 lead into the first period of game one, Friday in Swan River, but could not hold the lead in the third, giving up the tying goal less than five minutes in, before Swan Valley scored the winning goal with 1:08 remaining.
Kings coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the first 40 minutes of game one was really good for his team.
“We really shut down the middle, shut down their speed, controlled the neutral zone. (Carter) Zalischuk got a great goal on hard work and compete,” he said.
In the third period, the Kings forwards failed to protect the middle of the ice in the defensive zone resulting in a number of opportunities for the Stampeders.
“Sheff (goaltender Cole Sheffield) made some great saves and kept us in it,” Hedley said.
The winning goal came off a faceoff in the Kings end when a shot from Swan Valley defenceman Collin Jennings deflected in off of Justin Keck’s pants.
“But I was happy with the effort. We were really good for 40 minutes. It was a decent crowd there and there was a good atmosphere and the guys played very well,” Hedley said.
The Kings came out flying in the first period of game two on Saturday.
Dauphin outshot the Stampeders, 18-10 in the frame and carried a 2-1 lead into the second period.
They increased their advantage to 4-2, eight-and-a-half minutes into the second, before running into penalty trouble, resulting in Swan Valley scoring four power-play goals in the frame en route to a 5-4 lead entering the third.
After Jakob Brook tied the game at five, 8:17 into the third, Jennings completed a hat trick with 2:29 remaining to lift the Stampeders to a 6-5 victory and a two-games-to-none lead.
“We know we have team speed and when we play fast, we’re a tough team to beat,” Hedley said of the team’s start in game two. “Sometimes we just get to not stopping on pucks and getting on the wrong side of battles.”
Most of Swan Valley’s offence comes from the line of Keck, Trey Sauder and Jakob Jones, which combined for 85 goals and 195 points in the regular season.
When that line is on the ice, Hedley said teams have to be good in the D zone, be strong in the corners and protect the middle of the ice.
“And tonight, whether you agree with the penalties or not, we still took four or five in a row and one five-on-three that I think they sold pretty well. The bench pretty well called it. There was no hand up until the bench yelled, then the hand came up,” Hedley said, adding he liked the way the team pushed back in the third.
“I really liked our third period. We pushed back after giving up a two-goal lead and being down going into the last 20 minutes. I thought the team really show a push and resilience and tied the game up,” he said.
Even after Swan Valley took the lead late, the Kings still had some good opportunities to tie the game late.
Hedley knows the series is far from over, remembering last year’s series with Swan Valley, when the Stampeders won two games after Dauphin took a three-games-to-none lead.
“It’s not over until you win four. We were sitting here last year, up 2-0 and it ended up going six,” he said.
“You’ve got to get some goaltending. You’ve got to get big saves at the right time. And stay out of the penalty box. You can’t play on your heels and you can’t be killing penalties for eight, nine, 10 minutes in a row and expect to be on your toes all the time. We’ve just got to figure it out. Check with our feet and control our sticks and make sure we come back and push harder.”
