Ty Dilello – The Niverville Citizen
The Niverville Nighthawks continued their losing skid on Thursday, dropping their fourth game in a row after a tough contest against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. The Nighthawks escaped with a single point after falling in the shootout.
With the loss, the Nighthawks remain in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 19–17–4.
It wasn’t a great start on the evening, as Waywayseecappo got on the board just 30 seconds into the game. After the Wolverines made it 2–0 later in the period, Niverville stormed back with a pair of goals in quick succession by Josh Paulhus and Carson Reed to knot the game at 2–2.
Carter Spirig scored in the second to give Niverville a 3–2 lead. And it stayed that way until midway through the third period when the Wolverines tied the game to send it to overtime.
Overtime couldn’t decide a winner, and in the end the Nighthawks came up short in a four-round shootout.
Dane Couture stopped 26 shots in goal for the Nighthawks.
“It almost hurts more because we were up in the game, and they scored in the third period to tie it and then beat us in the shootout,” said Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech. “It’s a step in the right direction, but that’s all it is. We managed the puck well and did some things well that we worked on in practice, so that’s good.”
Cech also noted that getting points in the standings is getting increasingly important every night, so his team can take some solace in the fact that they’re leaving Waywayseecappo with one point.
“Every point is so crucial to everybody, so we’re happy that we competed and were right there in a game against one of the league’s best teams. We’ll take it and try to get better for our next one.”
The Nighthawks are back in action on Saturday, January 28 for a rubber match with the Wolverines. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
“We need to stop taking penalties, and mainly the ill-advised penalties as it’s really hurting us,” said Cech. “Our penalty kill is getting better, but we’re just on it too much. So we need to be much more disciplined, play our game, and realize it’s 60 minutes and we don’t have to be a hero on every shift to get the puck back. If we clean that up and play more of the game at five-on-five, we’ll be okay.”