The Niverville Nighthawks snapped a three-game losing streak on Wednesday night at the CRRC with a big 3–2 win over the Neepawa Titans. With this win, the Nighthawks stay in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 13–9–1.
It was the third straight game that the Nighthawks went into battle with Neepawa, and the home side was hungry. After Neepawa opened the scoring just a minute into the contest, Niverville tied it late in the first period with Carter Spirig’s fifth goal of the season.
Nathan Brown put the Nighthawks ahead early in the second period, before Neepawa tied it at 2–2.
The deadlock was ultimately broken by Ty Kennett for the Nighthawks as he scored later in the second period to give his side the lead.
A scoreless third period worked in the Nighthawks’ favour as they hung on for the much-needed 3–2 victory.
Raiden LeGall was excellent once again in the Nighthawks net, stopping 32 shots in the victory.
“We had a different forecheck, different lines, a couple of different faceoff plays tonight,” said Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech. “The only goals they got on us were a power play and then a mistake early on. But other than that, we stuck to the game plan. Against a team like this that is big and fast, it took our best to beat them tonight.”
Cech was especially pleased that his club was able to shut down Neepawa in the third period, as it was something Niverville failed to do in its two previous games with them.
“Our third period was our best of the night,” said Cech. “Just mature and professional. When you lose a few in a row, confidence can kind of waver, but I thought we were still confident, and I knew we would right the ship eventually. So it feels good to get the win.”
The Nighthawks are back in action with a home game on Friday night against the Winnipeg Blues. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m.