The Dauphin Kings are back on track
Without leading goal scorer Cayden Glover, NCAA Division 1 commit Naaman Hofer, and star defender Aiden Murray, Rylan Gage scored very early and the Kings never looked back and put together an incredible performance in a gutsy 3-1 win against the Northern Manitoba Blizzard on Saturday night at Credit Union Place.
It was an outstanding response from Dauphin just 24 hours after suffering their worst loss of the season against Virden. Gage opened the scoring with his 11th of the season just 36 seconds in with a perfect shot from the point.
Havyril Simchuk then scored his seventh in the back half of the period before Gabriel Bugeaud scored a dandy shortly after as Dauphin led 3-0 after 20 minutes of play. The Kings allowed just 17 shots through 40 minutes and while the Blizzard scored late in the third period, Dauphin was never in danger of giving up the lead.
Dauphin went a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and while their power play (0-for-3) continued to struggle, it was a great effort for a group that was without two of their best players and one key player on the back end.
With the win, Dauphin improved to 27-11-1 on the season and now have an eight point lead over the Blizzard with a game in hand and they're also eight points ahead of Neepawa, with four games in hand.
The Kings welcome back Carter Zalischuk on Tuesday as the Selkirk Steelers come to town before heading on the road for three games next weekend, Friday against Steinbach, Saturday in Niverville, and Sunday against Jayce Legaarden and the Winkler Flyers. Every game next weekend can be heard here on 730CKDM with Darnell Duff.
King Chips:
- Cayden Glover suffered an upper-body injury on Friday and is out week-to-week;
- Aiden Murray also suffered an upper-body injury on Friday and is out week-to-week;
- Madden Murray suffered an upper-body injury on Saturday and will be re-evaluated on Saturday;
- Naaman Hofer was suspended two games on Friday and is eligible to return on Friday when Dauphin plays Steinbach; and
- Cole Sheffield was back between the pipes and was excellent, turning away 22 shots.
