The Dauphin Kings have snapped their four-game losing streak and they did so in a big way.
Opening up a busy week on the road in Portage, the Kings downed the Centennial-Cup hosting Terriers, 6-5, in a shootout thriller. It was Dauphin’s Rylan Gibbs who played hero on the evening as he scored the only goal in the shootout. Cole Sheffield was tremendous in the shootout as he made six saves and he made some highlight reel saves throughout the game to keep the Kings in the game. He ended up the contest with 38 saves.
After struggling heavily to get the job done offensively as of late, Dauphin responded on Wednesday. It was a slow start; however, as Portage scored the first two goals of the game in the first 10 minutes, but Dauphin fired back.
Logan Walker scored his first as a King while Alex Senf and Nolan Wickham also scored. Portage scored late in the first as it was 3-3 after 20 minutes.
Senf would score Dauphin’s lone goal in the second while Matt Wisener would respond for Portage as it was 4-4 after 40 minutes. Then Jamie Valentino gave Dauphin a 5-4 lead early in the third, but Kian Calder scored shortly after to tie the game.
In the end, no goals were scored through overtime and Gibbs would cap off the game with his goal in the shootout.
The win propels Dauphin to 15-12-2 on the campaign and they’re now just four points back of Swan Valley for first place in the West Division. The Kings play the Stampeders in a pair of home games before the Christmas break, this Sunday on Tractor Lotto Sunday and next Friday as well.
Next up for Dauphin is a date with the Freeze on Friday in Winnipeg. The Freeze will enter the game with just two wins and six points.
