The Dauphin Kings earned three of a possible four points against the top two teams from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU East Division, this past weekend at Credit Union Place.
Ty Paisley’s second goal of the game lifted the Steinbach Pistons to a 4-3 overtime win over the Kings on Friday.
Trailing 3-2 early in the third period, the Kings pressed for the equalizer, but Steinbach netminder Christian Green held the Kings at bay until Ashton Paul deposited the puck into the back of the net to send the game to overtime.
On Sunday, Madden Murray opened the scoring with the first of two goals on the night just 14 seconds into the game and the Kings never looked back in a 4-1 victory over the Selkirk Steelers.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the Kings started slow against the Pistons.
“But we got better in the last 40 minutes. Anytime you’re down 3-2 with 16 seconds left and you tie the game, you’ve got to be happy to get a point out of it,” he said.
“But we had some real good opportunities in overtime to win the game.”
The start against Selkirk was much better, Hedley said, resulting in a goal on the first shift.
“And then I thought we were tougher to play against tonight. Tough on pucks. Selkirk has got some great speed and the rush defence has got to be real good. I thought our whole D corps and Sheff (goaltender Cole Sheffield) was really good tonight,” he said.
The Kings did a good job of backchecking in the offensive zone, often stealing the puck as a Selkirk player tried to exit their defensive zone, creating scoring opportunities as a result.
“That’s resulting from guys’ hard work and getting their head down and going hard and catching guys from behind,” Hedley said.
In October, the Kings dealt local product Rylan Gibbs to the Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League for a player development fee.
Hedley appreciates the time and effort Gibbs put in during his time with the Kings.
“Rylan played 99 games here. I’d like to thank him for his commitment to the crest. I know things sometimes don’t work out the way you want. But sometimes a step sideways can be a good step forward,” he said.
“And I think that Rylan can play Div. 3 and I really think this is a good step forward for him to get the minutes he needs to get better. It’s unfortunate it couldn’t work out in Dauphin.”
The depth of the Kings, Hedley stated, wouldn’t have allowed Gibbs to get the playing time he wanted, or needs to continue to develop.
The Kings are on the road, Wednesday, for what has become an annual school day afternoon in Swan River as they face the Stampeders at 12:30 p.m.
They are back on home ice, Friday against the Neepawa Titans, and Saturday in a return match against the Stampeders.
Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.
Despite Swan Valley’s place in the standings, Hedley knows the Kings will have to bring their A game.
“You know the old saying, that if talent doesn’t work hard, hard work beats talent every time. So you have to work hard. You have to come prepared to play,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter where Swan is in the standings, they’re going to come at us hard. You know that. They always play us tough, no matter where they are in the standings. So we’ve got to be ready.”
Kings court: Cayden Glover still leads the league with 15 goals and seven power-play goals, while Naaman Hofer is tops with 20 assists and leads all defenceman in scoring with 23 points. Cole Sheffield leads the league with 12 wins . . . since starting the season with 10 straight wins, the Selkirk Steelers are 2-6-0-1.
