DAUPHIN, MB - The Dauphin Kings will look to use their last visit to Niverville as motivation when they take on the Nighthawks tonight in southern Manitoba.
Last time the Kings were in this part of the province they came up short in a 4-0 loss to Niverville. It was a game that saw the Kings unable to generate lengthy momentum and fall behind 2-0 in the opening 20 minutes.
Game time from Niverville tonight is 7:00pm!
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Come back after the game for the Dusty's Butcher Shop Post Game Report!
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TONIGHT'S MATCH UP
KINGS (31-15-1-1) - 1st in West
Dauphin gets one step closer to a break from what has been a brutal schedule for the hockey club in the month of February. But the team must focus on the task at hand before their break arrives on Monday. The Kings got a favour from the Portage Terriers last night as the dogs took down the Northern Manitoba Blizzard 2-1, and kept the Kings seven points ahead of the league's most northern team for top spot in the West Division.
As mentioned the Kings have really no where to go but upwards after their last outing in Niverville. The club struggled to generate chances last time they were here and when they did generate some they'd shoot themselves in the foot by taking a penalty, or giving up a goal.
Dauphin's Special Teams were mixed in Steinbach Friday night. Coming into this evening their Power Play is ranked 3rd in the MJHL at 23.9% while their Penalty Kill is now 6th at 82.5%.
Naaman Hofer added two assists last night and remains the Kings' active points leader with Cayden Glover out. He has six goals and 41 assists for 47 points.
NIGHTHAWKS (29-15-2-1) - 4th in East
On the other side of the coin the Niverville Nighthawks have been sitting since Thursday night when they suffered a 3-2 loss to the Flyers in Winkler.
It's been mentioned before but the Nighthawks find themselves in a difficult position. Their games right now are meaningful, but at the same time they're not. The Nighthawks are very likely to finish 4th in the East Division. Realistically they're not going to catch Portage who are 14 points ahead and they're not going to be caught by Selkirk who are 14 points back. All that's left for Niverville is to 'officially' clinch a playoff spot sometime in the next couple weeks.
The Nighthawks Special Teams were not their best in Dauphin last weekend. Right now they're 6th on the Power Play at 21.6% while on the Penalty Kill they sit 2nd at 84.8%.
Adam Vigfusson (26G, 30A) leads the Nighthawks with 56 points coming into tonight.