The Niverville Nighthawks proved once again why they sit atop the Manitoba Junior Hockey League standings, edging the Dauphin Kings 2–1 on Sunday afternoon at the CRRC in front of nearly 600 boisterous fans.
The matchup carried extra weight for the Nighthawks, who came in with just one blemish on an otherwise perfect record: a 5–1 loss to Dauphin back on October 12. Since that setback, Niverville had rattled off seven straight victories and were determined to return the favour on home ice.
In what felt like a playoff game from start to finish, both teams locked down defensively, leaving little room to manoeuvre and giving up few scoring chances at either end.
“I think that’s just a game where you stick with the process and you just keep working it until finally it comes through,” says Nighthawks head coach Dwight Hirst. “That’s a game that not only for fans, but also coaches, reminds me why we do what we do.”
Dauphin opened the scoring six minutes into the first period. As Niverville’s Loik Leduc tried to carry the puck out from behind his own net, it slipped free to Dauphin’s Ethan Stewart, who snapped a shot past goaltender Austin Dubinsky to make it 1–0.
That lead held up for the majority of the game.
Both teams traded chances through the next two periods, with Dauphin maintaining their slim lead until late in the third.
With just over five minutes left in regulation, the Kings looked poised to extend their lead after a Nighthawks penalty put them on the power play. But the momentum instead swung dramatically in Niverville’s favour.
Dawson Zeller, celebrating his twentieth birthday, stripped the puck from Dauphin’s Madden Murray at the Nighthawks’ blue line and raced in alone. He made no mistake, beating goaltender Justin Perreault to tie the game short-handed and ignite the home crowd.
“We preach so much in practice about the active stick and stick on puck, and Dawson did exactly that,” says Hirst. “He stole the puck and he was gone.”
With the energy still buzzing in the CRRC, Niverville’s top line went to work. After both Adam Vigfusson and Hayden Wheddon’s shot attempts were blocked from in close, a bouncing puck found its way to Merik Boles at the top of the crease, who batted a backhand past Perreault for the eventual game-winner.
“Part of our game plan is getting to the hard area in front of the net,” Hirst adds. “And what does it end up being? The game-winning goal being scored from in the crease. It’s being rewarded for sticking with the process.”
Perreault finished the night with 22 saves on 24 shots for Dauphin, while Dubinsky turned in another strong performance for Niverville, turning aside 21 of 22 shots, improving to 11–1–0 on the season.
“I’m sure to the fans it looked like a tight-checking affair, and to us that’s what a playoff game looks like,” Hirst says. “There’s a lot of good things that came out of tonight’s game—not just the win, but recognizing what those games feel like as a player.”
With the victory, the Nighthawks improve to 14–1–0 on the season, maintaining their spot at the top of the league. The Kings fall to 10–4–1 but continue to lead the West Division.
Niverville now gets a brief break before hosting the Winkler Flyers this Friday, November 7, kicking off a challenging stretch of four games in eight days.