For the second time in six days, the Dauphin Kings will play a home game inside of Credit Union Place. And when they host the Neepawa Titans on Friday night, they will look to make it two straight wins against their rivals.
Dauphin is coming off a 1-0 win in which Carson Cherepak made 45 saves to record his first win as a King while Luke Morris scored his second goal in the victory. It’s been a busy week for Dauphin as they were out in the community earlier this week volunteering their time at the Mountain and Main Street Co-op Gas Bars in town for Fuel Good Day.
Rylan Gudnason enters the game as Neepawa’s leading scorer with two points while four other Titans have one point, including Jaegar Lapointe who was born just down the road in Ste. Rose.
Friday’s game is the third of eight between the two clubs this season and is the first of a weekend home-and-home with Saturday’s game being played at the Yellowhead Centre.
Dauphin enters the game at 90.9% on the penalty kill as they killed off 10-of-11 penalties taken last week while Neepawa killed off both of the penalties they took. Dauphin is 6-2-1-1 against Neepawa at Credit Union Place in the past five years, including 1-0 this season.
Dauphin will add some offensive depth to the lineup this weekend, as Sean Williams has returned from the Swift Current Broncos. He had six goals and three assists in just four games last season with Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg.
“He’s a kid that we’re going to rely on for top-six minutes,” said Doug Hedley. “He’s got some speed and skill. He’s definitely a guy that we’re going to rely on to create some offence.”
Make sure you’re in your seats early on Friday as there will be a pregame ceremony to honour the late Allen Dowhan, who passed away on Tuesday.