The Niverville Nighthawks came out on the losing end of a wild 7–6 game with the Selkirk Steelers. With the loss, the Nighthawks fall back to fifth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 14–9–1.
With the score tied 1–1 after the first period, all hell broke loose in the second frame. Of the five goals scored, three of them came from the Nighthawks.
Niverville led 4–3 heading into the final period, before Selkirk blitzed them and scored four of the next five to take the game over.
When the dust settled, Selkirk had defeated Niverville.
The Nighthawks goals on the night were scored by Alex Ballard, Avery Laliberte, Matthew Bertolin, Adam Vigfusson, Dawson Zelle, and Merik Boles.
Niverville’s Austin Dubinsky stopped 17 shots in the loss.
Head coach Dwight Hirst was less than pleased with how run-and-gun the game became in the final two periods.
“It wasn’t a style that we want to get caught in, that’s for sure,” says Hirst. “It’s uncharacteristic of the way we have been progressing in the last stretch of hockey here. We played too loose and without any urgency over the course of the entire game.”
The Nighthawks are back in action with a road game on Friday, November 29 against the Northern Manitoba Blizzard. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
“We’ve got to get back to our basics,” Hirst says. “Tonight was another step forward in our development process in understanding what drives our success and what doesn’t. Tonight was a mental learning experience for the team. We just have to learn from it and get ready for the trip north this weekend.”
