The Niverville Nighthawks improved to 2–0 in the preseason with a 5–4 win over the Steinbach Pistons on Sunday night at the CRRC.
In the fight to make the Nighthawks’ opening night roster, several players on the bubble are making strong cases for themselves after some excellent play so far in the preseason.
The Pistons got on the scoreboard first in the opening frame with a pair of goals to silence the home crowd and jump out to a 2–0 lead.
In the second period, the Nighthawks turned the tide, blitzing Steinbach with four goals. Caleb Lepitre scored twice, while Adam Vigfusson and Dawson Zeller added the other Niverville tallies. Steinbach scored a pair of goals as well in the second period to knot the game at 4–4 apiece.
Early in the third period, Noah Asmundson broke the deadlock for Niverville, giving the home team a 5–4 lead which would hold the rest of the way.
Steinbach outshot Niverville 36–28 on the night, but the Nighthawks received solid goaltending from both Keegan Gordon and Austin Dubinsky, who made a combined 32 saves as they split the game in net.
The Nighthawks are back in action with their next exhibition game on the road on September 10 against the Selkirk Steelers. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
