Three straight wins has the Dauphin Kings starting to pull away from the Northern Manitoba Blizzard in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division.
Dauphin swept a home-and-home with division rival Virden Oil Capitals, scoring a 6-3 win on home ice, Friday night, before netting a 4-1 victory in Virden the next night.
At 18-6-1-0 for 37 points, the Kings are six ahead of the Blizzard with a game in hand. Dauphin sits second overall, just two points behind the Steinbach Pistons.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the team is down two players due to injury, allowing other players to step up.
“I thought everybody played fairly well. We came off one of our better defensive games against Portage and played very well in the D zone. And I thought we did the same on Friday and Saturday was okay,” he said.
“There were times when we got hemmed in our own end, but we kept it on the perimeter. And both goaltenders were good on the weekend, so it makes it a lot easier.”
Having success on the road gives the team confidence going forward as they have three road games this month, all against the Blizzard.
“We know if we battle and compete and play a structured team game, we’re going to be very tough to beat,” Hedley said.
Although the Kings are starting to put some distance between themselves and the second-place Blizzard, Hedley said they can only control what they do.
“We’ve been focusing on how we play and taking care of business of our own and what ever happens, happens. We’re comfortable with the way we’re playing right now and we’re getting contributions from the back end and some depth up front. So it’s been a good run, for sure,” he said.
Forward Ashton Paul left the team to return home to The Pas. Hedley said they are trying to make a deal to accommodate him.
The first of the three games in The Pas is tonight at 7 p.m.
The only other game this week is Saturday, when the Kings host the Pistons at 7:30 p.m.
It is hockey card night as the team will be signing their hockey cards for fans.
Kings court: The Kings begin the week maintaining its hold on 11th place in the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s Top 20 national rankings. Steinbach moved up three spots to number six, while Winkler and Selkirk were honourable mentions . . . with 10 goals and six assists in 11 games, Cayden Glover was named the RBC Player of the Month for November. Blake Matheson of the Winkler Flyers is the Safe Work Manitoba Defenceman of the Month after scoring twice and adding 11 assists in 11 games. Christian Green of Steinbach is the Original 16 Goaltender of the Month after recording eight wins, a 1.55 GAA and .943 save percentage with one shutout. Koy Funk of the Portage Terriers is the Chevrolet Rookie of the Month. The 16-year-old tallied three goals and nine assists in 12 games. Swan Valley Stampeders forward Will Brown is the Manitoba Pork Peak Performer after netting four goals and 13 assists in 12 games.
