The Niverville Nighthawks battled with the Dauphin Kings on Hockey Fights Cancer night and came out victorious with a thrilling 2–1 win in overtime. With the win, the Nighthawks stay in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 15–9–1.
The two teams played a scoreless first period filled with penalties.
In the second period, Nathan Brown of Niverville opened the scoring with his seventh tally of the season.
Dauphin tied it up early in the third period—and from there, the game ended up tied 1–1 after regulation.
Niverville’s Kaycee Coyle was the overtime hero. He broke the deadlock just 44 seconds into the extra frame.
Keegan Gordon turned in his finest performance of the season, making 35 saves for the win in the Nighthawks’ net.
“I thought we just played a mature, professional style game,” said Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech. “There were a million penalties early in the game, and some guys sat out for a long time, but the guys came out and competed the rest of the way. To walk away with two points against a good team like Dauphin definitely feels nice.”
Cech was also quick to give Gordon a lot of the credit.
“Keegan Gordon was number one tonight and had a performance for the ages. So I’m just really proud of him and of our players to get the win, and how they competed for each other. That’s more important than anything.”
Saturday night’s game was also Hockey Fights Cancer night, with all proceeds from the evening going toward children’s cancer programs. The Nighthawks’ commemorative game jerseys, worn for this game, will be auctioned off online in the coming days.
“Everybody has someone that’s fought cancer, so it’s an emotional night,” said Cech. “My mom had cancer, and they gave her a low chance of survival. And that was 15 years ago now. My assistant Mike McAulay lost his father to cancer a few months ago. It’s just emotional, and we’re all fortunate to be here playing a game we love.”
The Nighthawks are back in action with another home game on Wednesday, November 29 against the Winkler Flyers. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
