The playoff picture is now even more obscure for the Dauphin Kings after Saturday night. The Winkler Flyers swept the season series with a 6-2 victory at the Winkler Arena. The Kings saw scoring from Grady Hobbs and Keaton Leininger who converted on the power play. Hobbs and Leininger scored for the Kings their last trip to Winkler on January 3rd in a 3-2 loss.
The Swan Valley Stampeders have rebounded from a lengthy losing skid with back-to-back wins now including a 4-3 overtime win in Winkler Friday, and a 4-1 win in Winnipeg on Saturday. The Stamps are 4 points ahead of the Kings in the standings in 8th place with two games in hand. Dauphin does have a 4 point lead over the 10th place Neepawa Natives who are also trying to claim the final playoff spot, although Neepawa does have three games in hand.
The Kings begin their final 10 games of the season on Tuesday with a trip to OCN. The Kings start that game having lost three straight. Saturday the Kings are in Virden to close out a 5 game road swing, before returning to Credit Union Place next Sunday to face Selkirk for a 6:00pm start.
---
The Parkland Rangers began a 5 game home stand on a high note with a 7-1 victory over the Interlake Lightning yesterday. Mark Liwiski, Carter Cockburn, and Reece Hopfner each scored twice while Bradyn Smelski added on in the win. Mark Liwiski hit 100 penalty minutes on the season so will miss Sunday's game against the Winnipeg Wild.
The Rangers are nipping at the heels of the last playoff spot. The Rangers are in 10th with 30 points. They were able to gain some ground on Kenora, who sits in 9th with 31 points, and the Southwest Cougars, who hang on to the last playoff spot with 32 points, with Saturday's win.
The Rangers have 7 games left on the season to qualify for the post season. While a win Sunday against the Winnipeg Wild is not impossible, it is unlikely as the Wild have outscored the Parkland 18-4 in their three previous meetings.
The Rangers host Brandon Wednesday, Eastman Saturday, and Southwest Sunday.
---
The Dauphin Clippers earned a big 9-1 win Saturday, then played a tight game Saturday against the secnod best opponent the Westman High School Hockey League currently has to offer; the Clippers fell 5-4 to the Wawanesa/Killarney Raiders.
The Clippers face the Raiders again on Wednesday on the road, before returning to Credit Union Place Friday and Saturday to close out the season against Major Pratt, and Boissevain, respectively.
The Clippers currently cling to the last playoff spot with 21 points. The Deloraine Colts have an equal number of points, but the Clippers have the advantage wit one more win.
