The Dauphin Kings pushed on Friday night, but they couldn’t find the equalizer.
Playing their first game of 2023, Dauphin struggled defensively at times in a 6-4 loss against the Winnipeg Blues.
Michael Tanchak scored twice for Winnipeg on the night and he opened up the scoring just less than five minutes into the contest before Logan Walker tied the game up with his third of the season for Dauphin as it was 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The floodgates opened up in the midway frame as the two team’s combined for five goals, three of which came for the Blues. Matthew Gough would open up the scoring in the second with his 13th of the season as Dauphin took a 2-1 lead, but it didn’t last long.
Dawson Zeller, Kai Elkie, and Thomas Kaufield would respond for Winnipeg as the Blues jumped out to a 4-3 lead. Aaron Neal then found the back of the net with his first as a King to trim the deficit to just 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Tanchak scored his second for Winnipeg 13 minutes into the third to restore Winnipeg’s two goal lead before Logan Walker’s second of the game for Dauphin brought the Kings within a goal. Ultimately, that was as close as Dauphin would get as Kaufield scored his 15th of the season for Winnipeg to cap the game and make the final 6-4.
Dauphin was solid on special teams going 1-for-3 on the power play and they were a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. These same two teams will meet on Saturday night at Credit Union Place. You can watch that game on HockeyTV.
