The rivalry between the Niverville Nighthawks and Winkler Flyers delivered again Friday night, and this time the Flyers had the final say.
In front of a large crowd at Icon Arena, Winkler outlasted Niverville 7–5 in a back-and-forth thriller, snapping the Nighthawks’ 15-game winning streak and handing them just their fourth loss of the season.
It wasn’t the sharpest performance of the year for Niverville, but the league-leading Nighthawks showed their trademark resilience, battling right to the final minutes. Still, every time they pulled within striking distance, Winkler had an answer—something few teams have managed against the MJHL’s top club.
The Flyers fed off the home crowd almost immediately, opening the scoring just 1:32 into the game on the power play. Tanner George buried his first of two goals on the night to make it 1–0.
Winkler doubled the lead seven minutes later when Joshua Ingram beat Austin Dubinsky.
The Flyers appeared poised to carry a 2–0 advantage into the intermission, but Hayden Wheddon had other ideas, cutting to the net from the corner and scoring a beautiful goal with under two minutes remaining to pull Niverville within one. The goal gave Wheddon 24 on the season to take the team lead over teammate Adam Vigfusson, who’s been out of the lineup due to injury since January 24.
The Nighthawks drew even early in the second when Dawson Zeller notched his first of two on the evening to pick up his twelfth of the season. Evan Panzer and Parker Rolston had the helpers.
Midway through the period, Winkler responded with a pair of goals just 46 seconds apart. Riley Fequet pounced on a loose puck in front, followed quickly by an Aiden Jacobson strike, as the Flyers regained a two-goal cushion and briefly stunned the visitors.
Niverville pushed back again when Ryken Arran ripped a beautiful shot past Liam Ernst to make it 4–3 and give the Nighthawks some life, but the Flyers’ leading scorer Nik Gudmundson restored the two-goal lead just 11 seconds later, scoring his twenty-sixth of the season to send Winkler into the break up 5–3.
Niverville has been a great third period team all season, and they made another charge in the final frame on Friday night.
Just under three minutes in, Loik Leduc created space and fired a shot that was stopped by Ernst, but the rebound bounced right back to him and Leduc sent a quick pass to a waiting Zeller in the right circle who fired home his second of the night, cutting the deficit to one.
And just moments later, Niverville had a prime chance to tie it on the power play, but Winkler’s penalty kill held firm.
That proved important, because immediately after the kill George struck again, forcing a turnover at the Flyers’ blue line, breaking in alone, and beating Dubinsky to make it 6–4.
Still, the Nighthawks wouldn’t go away. Midway through the period, Wheddon drove the puck into the zone and dropped it to Parker Carrier, who wired home his fifth of the season to pull Niverville back within one.
That was as close as they got.
With Dubinsky pulled for the extra attacker, Charles Bernier sealed the win with an empty-net goal, capping the Flyers’ 7–5 victory.
Despite the loss, the game marked a milestone behind the Niverville bench, as head coach Dwight Hirst coached his one hundredth career game in the MJHL.
Final shots on goal favoured the Nighthawks, 29–25.
With the loss, the Nighthawks fall to 39–3–1 and registered their first regulation road loss of the season (20–1–1). The seven goals allowed were a season-high.
Zeller recorded his third two-goal game of the season, while Panzer, Arran, Zeller, and Wheddon all finished with multi-point nights. Wheddon extended his point streak to 13 games and Marlen Edwards stretched his to 11 with an assist.
The Nighthawks won’t have much time to reflect on the loss. They return to action Saturday night for their first home game since January 15, welcoming the Virden Oil Capitals to the CRRC. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.