The Dauphin Kings were the better team for the final 40 minutes on Friday night; however, it was a tough opening 20 minutes that did them in.
Swan Valley scored twice in the game’s opening nine minutes and held on the rest of the way as they earned a hard fought 3-0 win over the Kings in the first all-Parkland battle of the season.
The Stampeders opened the scoring just 76 seconds in on the man advantage and they made it 2-0 just about seven minutes later as Tyler Park scored his first. Then to end the first with just 52 seconds left, Myles Mason beat Cole Sheffield.
Dauphin certainly did push hard in the final two periods and had some great chances but they couldn’t beat Grant who also played very well against Dauphin in the first round of last year’s playoffs.
After giving up the three goals in the first, Sheffield rebounded very nicely as he made 18 saves over the final two periods. Grant made 40 saves and earned his first shutout of the season. Dauphin ended up going 0-for-4 on the power play while the Stampeders went 1-for-4.
The loss drops Dauphin to 1-2-1. They will have an opportunity to bounce back on Saturday as they host the back half of a home-and-home with the Stampeders at Credit Union Place. All the action gets underway at 7:30.