A five-game winning streak has vaulted the Dauphin Kings into a tie for first place overall in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Rylan Gage scored twice and added an assist as the Kings beat the Northern Manitoba Blizzard, 4-2, Dec. 3, in The Pas.
Declan Hoad and Joshua Schmidt had Dauphin’s other goals, while Miguel Bouvier and Keenan McNeill replied for the Blizzard.
Cole Sheffield made 33 saves to pick up the win. Alex Reedy took the loss with 28 saves to his credit.
On Saturday in Dauphin, Gavin Nemis scored twice to lift the Kings to a 5-2 win over the Steinbach Pistons.
Ethan Stewart, Matthew Thomas and Hoad had Dauphin’s other goals. Sheffield was stellar in goal once again, stopping 34 shots.
Sam Noad and Mathis Laplante had Steinbach’s goals. Christian Green made 22 stops in taking the loss.
Dauphin nows sits with a 20-6-1-0 record for 41 points, equal to that of the Pistons, who have a game in hand, with one fewer loss.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said the energy level the team had in The Pas carried the team to victory.
“Our energy level that we had up in The Pas carried through. The third period was really good we played up there. A really good structured game,” he said.
Saturday, the Kings still found ways to get the job done against a shorthanded Pistons squad.
“There were times when we could get better at certain things. But when we stick to our structure and stick to our plan of getting pucks in behind D units and not turning pucks over in the neutral zone, we’re a good hockey team,” Hedley said.
The line of Stewart, Hoad and Havryil Simchuk was Dauphin’s best of the night and they were rewarded with a couple of goals.
“I understand Steinbach was shorthanded, but I don’t think our top guys were our top guys either. The young kids were really good. Stewie, Hoady and Simmer were outstanding. They were one of our best lines all night,” Hedley said.
And that’s what you need. You’re not going to have the same guys doing the same thing every night. It’s great to have the depth. It’s great to have guys step up when the have the opportunity.”
The Kings host the Waywayseecappo Wolverines tonight at 7:30 p.m., before facing the Blizzard again in The Pas on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Sunday, the Swan Valley Stampeders will pay a visit to Credit Union Place at 4 p.m., on tractor lotto night, where someone will win $100,000.
“We’re very happy to get 20 wins, but we sure want more. We have four games to go before we enter the break and each one is going to be tough. We have Wayway, (the Blizzard) twice and then Swan River. So we want to make sure that we take care of business and take it a game at a time and it starts Tuesday night against Wayway,” Hedley said.
Saturday’s game was the debut was Rylan Ringor, who made a nice spin-around move to feed a pass to Nemis for his first of the night.
The veteran has a high IQ, Hedley said, and can make plays in small places.
“He made a great play to Nemis last night to get him a goal. He has a high hockey IQ and knows where players are on the ice. If we can get him the right combination, he should be very good,” he said.
Hedley was not on the bench, Saturday due to an internal matter and wouldn’t comment. But he said the matter would be resolved by Thursday.
Kings court: Despite the current winning streak, the Kings dropped two spots in the Canadian Junior Hockey League Top 20 national rankings, from number 11 to number 13. The Pistons also dropped two spots and now sit at number 8. The Winkler Flyers cracked the list, coming in at number 20 . . . Cayden Glover continues to lead the MJHL with 22 goals, four ahead of Niverville’s Adam Vigfusson. Defenceman Naaman Hofer still leads with 27 assists, one more than Cameron Bullinger of Portage. Hofer also leads all defencemen in scoring with 31 points in 27 games. He is five points ahead of Blizzard rearguard Cheechoo Lathlin. Cole Sheffield tops the league with 16 wins and is fourth with a 2.31 GAA and third with a .925 save percentage.
