The Nighthawks ventured to The Pas on Saturday evening to face off against the MJHL’s West Division-leading OCN Blizzard.
Niverville was simply outmatched on the evening as the Blizzard were able to win by a 3–1 score. Ethan Kadatz stopped 32 of 35 shots in goal for the Nighthawks.
With the loss, the Nighthawks fall to 8–8–1, which is still good for fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division.
“It was a positive experience for our guys that haven’t played in that arena, as there’s a ton of history and character in that building,” said Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech. “We would have enjoyed it more if we picked up two points, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
“It was a good experience for the team, as it was our first long trip. So it really gave us the opportunity to bond more as a team,” said forward Carter Spirig. “It was a different type of atmosphere, and the boys adapted and saw the game from a different perspective this weekend.”
The Nighthawks opened the scoring just three minutes into the game when Carter Spirig potted home his fifth goal of the year, assisted by Evan Bortis and Brendan Bottem.
“It all started with a hard forecheck, forcing them to turn over the puck, and then Bortis found me in the high slot,” explained Spirig. “I knew being in a high-scoring spot that I had to get the puck off my stick quick, and then I beat the goalie high-glove for the goal.”
Unfortunately for Niverville, from there the Blizzard would score a single goal in each period to win the game 3–1.
“We had trouble handling their forecheck, as they got our defencemen turning, and they were on us really quick,” said Cech. “We had trouble getting back to pucks and moving efficiently. They’ve got a real identity, and they work hard, so they were hard to play against tonight.”
“We’re doing lots of good things as our set plays and systems work, and we just have to execute them at a higher rate,” added Spirig. “Winning net-front battles in the D-zone and the O-zone are crucial pieces to getting back in that win column.”
The team is stopping back in Swan River for the night as the snow had started to fall once they got on the highway to drive home. The Nighthawks will bus the rest of the way home on Sunday and prepare for their next game on November 8 (7:30 p.m.), another road match against the Selkirk Steelers.
“We’re going to go back to work on Monday,” said Cech. “The guys try not to get too high or too low after wins or losses, so we’re looking forward to taking care of business on Monday to prepare for the Selkirk game.”