It wasn’t pretty, but the Dauphin Kings managed a split a pair of games last week.
In an uncharacteristic result, the Kings dropped a 7-5 decision to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, Dec. 10, in Dauphin.
Sebastien Hicks and Jaxon Grosdidier each scored twice to lead the Wolverines.
Cam Sarna, Lucas Perry and Griffin Ayotte had the other goals, while Jase Wareham made 36 saves to pick up the win in goal.
Rylan Ringor tallied his first goal with the Kings since being acquired in the Ashton Paul trade.
Gavin Nemis, Rylan Gage, Gabriel Bugeaud and Cayden Glover also scored for Dauphin.
Bryson Yaschyshyn got the start in goal for the Kings and was pulled after Waywayseecappo’s fourth goal, 11:30 into the second period. He finished with 12 saves to his credit. Cole Sheffield stopped 10 shots the rest of the way.
The Kings had little time to dwell on the loss as the traveled north to The Pas to battle the Northern Manitoba Blizzard the next day.
Madden Murray scored twice to lead Dauphin to a 5-4 win.
Sheldon Shyiak, Matthew Thomas and Daniel Helary had Dauphin’s other goals, while Sheffield made 29 saves to record his league-leading 18th win of the season.
Brett Ward with two, Keenan McNeill and Tyler Dahms scored for the Blizzard. Alex Reedy took the loss after stopping 32 shots.
Sunday’s game against the Swan Valley Stampeders was postponed due to poor road conditions.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said neither goaltender was a sharp as they could have been against the Wolverines.
“It was just one of those games where it just seemed like everything was bouncing off skates and taking different deflections and were going in the net,” he said.
“The good thing about it is we didn’t quit. We pushed back. We could have packed up when it was 6-3, but didn’t. If the linesman hadn’t knocked over one of our players, we probably would have had a good chance to keep the puck in and who knows what happens?”
Hedley said it was a case of respecting your opponent and staying within the team structure.
“We weren’t very good in our D zone. We gave up chances that we don’t normally give up. And that’s all starting in the preparation and the mental part of the game,” he said.
“We talk about consistency all year and we’ve been getting better. It’s a work in progress. We’ve been getting better. We’re coming off two big wins against Virden and we expect better results at home.”
With the Wolverines battling for a playoff spot, the Kings should have expected them to come in and play as hard as they could.
“We weren’t on our toes and we weren’t competing as hard as we need to compete,” Hedley said.
Getting back at it right away helped the Kings as they had little time to reflect on the loss.
Although it wasn’t one of Dauphin’s better road games, the Kings got the job done in The Pas, picking up two big points.
“Any road win is huge in this league and you have to take it with a grain of salt to a certain extent. But we can get better in certain areas. It’s never easy to play in December when guys are thinking about the break and getting home for Christmas,” he said.
“It was a greasy road win and it’s one of those things where you battled, you found a way to get it done and it’s a character win for our hockey club.”
The final game before Christmas goes tonight when the Kings return to The Pas for the third and final time in the regular season to face the Blizzard.
Defenceman Ryan Gower was traded to the Neepawa Titans for the list rights to 17-year-old forward Shea Chornley and a player development fee.
Gower, who scored the winning goal with 42 seconds left in his Neepawa debut, asked to be moved to get more playing time.
“Most of it was facilitated through his advisor. As a 17-year-old, they wanted him to play a lot of minutes. They wanted him to play more and more consistent, just because they want him back in Prince Albert next season,” Hedley said, adding it would have been difficult to give Gower the ice time he needed, especially with the return of Aiden Murray from injury in January.
