It took nine rounds in the shootout, but the Dauphin Kings are okay with that after they picked up a 4-3 win over Neepawa tonight as the preseason rolls on.
Dauphin also used a 38 save performance and a fantastic penalty kill to snap their two-game losing streak.
The Kings got out to a great start when Dauphin’s Bradyn Smelski opened the scoring 12:30 in. Liam Hallet and Draydyn Kurbatoff had the assists.
1:35 later, Avery Smith made it 2-0 for Dauphin with Carter Sawchuk and Ian Tookenay getting the assists.
After holding that 2-0 lead after 20, Eli Leiffers brought Neepawa within a goal, just a few minutes into the second.
At the 11:04 mark, Taylor Redmond let go of a shot from the point, which was tipped in by Leeam Tivers as Dauphin went up 3-1. The eventual shootout hero Ty Brant also had an assist.
Leading by two going into the third, Neepawa fired back to tie the game up as it was extra time-bound.
With less than five seconds left in overtime, Jaxon Heeney was sprung on a breakaway. He put it in the back of the net, but the time had expired which meant the game went into a shootout.
Leeam Tivers, Grady Birk and Ty Brant scored in the shootout to give Dauphin the win. Brant’s goal was the winner and Landsberger made seven more saves in the skills competition.
Dauphin went a perfect 12-12 on the penalty kill. On the power play, they went 1-10. The man-advantage goal was their first of the preseason.
Dauphin will return to Credit Union Place on Monday against Melville.
