The Dauphin Kings are halfway to the semifinals in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Kings rode a 46-save performance from Cole Sheffield to a 2-1 victory over the Blizzard Jr. A Hockey Club in game one, Friday in The Pas.
Joshua Schmidt was the overtime hero, beating Blizzard goaltender Tomas Anderson through the five-hole, 6:21 into the extra period to lift the Kings to a 5-4 win and a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley, who missed game one due to illness, credited Sheffield for stealing the game with his performance.
“The biggest thing is we weathered the storm up there. And Sheff stole the game. Let’s face it, Sheffield stole the game for us,” he said. “They had pressure after pressure. But the good thing about up there is that we kept them to the perimeter. They only had 12 prime scoring shot areas and they usually have more than that on us the last couple times we played them.”
After the Kings took a 2-0 lead after the first period, the Blizzard outshot Dauphin, 39-7 in the final 40 minutes. That was when Sheffield took the spotlight, stopping all but one of those shots.
In game two, the Kings, playing with just five defencemen, were able to relieve a lot of pressure by getting pucks out of the zone and moving it as quickly as they could.
“And taking advantage of mistakes on the rush. Their D-men are always pressuring their five-man unit down low, so if we can get in behind them and get pucks in behind them, then we end up with two-on-ones,” Hedley said. “But the biggest thing is we had to relieve pressure and I thought our guys did a hell of a job tonight.”
Forward Jordan Bax also missed game one due to illness, while defenceman Brett Magarrell is day-to-day with an upper body injury and may return for game three, tonight in The Pas.
Defenceman Charlie Sandven is likely out for the remainder of the playoffs after contracting mono.
Schmidt, forward Rylan Gibbs and defenceman Ty Pratte also missed some practices due to illness.
“We went up there with a few guys at about 80 per cent, 75 per cent, found a way to get it done and it was just a good follow up today, that’s for sure,” Hedley said.
Schmidt and Carter Zalischuk, who opened the scoring in game two, are examples of the team effort needed to be successful in the playoffs, Hedley said.
“That’s what playoffs are for. It’s for the guys in the bottom of the order. The bottom of your order are the guys that are going to get it done, because you’ve got to play everybody,” he said. “You have to deposit energy into the bank and you’re going to use it in game five, six, seven, depends on how long it goes.”
Madden Murray and Rylan Gage were both outstanding, Hedley said and Zalischuk played his best hockey of the season in the last two games.
“Since we put him back in the middle, that 200-foot game, he’s been outstanding. The energy level, the work ethic, that’s what he brings. He brings energy, he finishes checks and he kills penalties like a trooper,” he said.
Game three gets underway tonight in The Pas at 7 p.m., while game four will go Thursday in Dauphin at 7:30 p.m.
Despite having the series lead after two games, Hedley knows the series is far from over.
“Every game is as important as the last one. We do enjoy today and get back to work tomorrow,” he said. “It’s great we won at home, but there’s still a lot of work to do. This team is not going to go anywhere. They’re too good of a team to do that. Their goaltender is too good to do that. So it’s a matter of us coming back with a good solid effort and, hopefully, take the next step.”
Game five, if necessary, will go Saturday in The Pas at 7:30 p.m., while game six, if needed in Monday in Dauphin at 7:30 p.m.
