Both the Dauphin Kings and Neepawa Natives entered Saturday night’s contest at the Yellowhead Centre dealing with extended losing streaks. Dauphin had dropped four games in a row, while Neepawa had fallen in six straight. At the end of the evening one of those streaks came to an end. Unfortunately it would not be Neepawa, as the Natives were defeated by a 6-1 margin.
Dauphin jumped out to an early lead, with Matthew Greening scoring just 1:21 into the opening period. That lead quickly doubled, as Landon Plett added another just over three minutes later. Instead of becoming disheartened, Neepawa took up the challenge of climbing back into the game, by pressing the Dauphin net and creating several close opportunities. That tenacity eventually paid off, as Jordan Martin secured his second goal of the season at 13:52, to cut the Kings lead in half. It would remain 2-1 for the Kings heading into the second period.
A third goal would be attained by Dauphin at 13:44 of the middle frame, with Greening scoring his second of the night and sixth of the season.
Much like the first period, the second turned into a chippy affair, as both club played at times beyond the whistle. That resulted in many penalties. Late in the second, it would be the visiting side who would take advantage, scoring on a power-play to make it 4-1. Landon Plett was the benefactor, gaining his second goal of the game.
In the third, the Kings pushed Neepawa back on their heels, not allowing them to gain any space in the neutral zone and keeping the remainder of Dauphin goaltender Jarrod Schamerhorn’s night relatively quiet. A pair of goal in the final 20 minutes by Oliver Lester and Thomas Lenchyshyn, would make the final score 6-1 for the Kings.
With the win, Dauphin snapped it recent losing ways and improved to 7-9 on the season. Neepawa meanwhile remains four points back of the Kings for ninth place in the MJHL, with a record of 5-13 for the year.