VIRDEN, MB - The Dauphin Kings came out strong in the first 10 minutes but couldn't keep the ball rolling in a tough 10-3 loss in Virden to the Oil Capitals on Friday. 

The season opener saw the Kings give up the game's first goal, but battled back to even things up in the first when Mark Ziobro notched his first with Dauphin. 

Following Ziobro's goal, however, the Kings fell behind and couldn't recover, going down 4-1 after the opening 20 minutes. 

In the second period the Kings would drop back 6-1 and then give a little push back making it 6-3 before the Oil Capitals pulled away. Nick Ness and Riese Gaber had Dauphin's goals in the second period. 

In the third Virden expanded their lead and ended up taking the affair 10-3. 

Brady Weiss started the tilt for Dauphin but did not finish, turning aside 14 of 20 shots he faced. Parker Waseylenko then stepped in early in the second and stopped 23 of 27 shots.

Power Plays on Friday saw both teams score once. Dauphin was 1 for 8 while Virden was 1 for 7. 

The good news for the Kings is the game was the first of the season and 59 remain, including the team's home opener which takes place on Saturday. Over 1000 tickets have already been sold for the game already with the ticket office set to open at 2:00pm on Saturday afternoon!

#LongLiveTheKings