The Niverville Nighthawks lost for the first time this season, dropping a game on the road Tuesday night after being blitzed 5–1 by the Selkirk Steelers. With the loss, the Nighthawks move to second place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 2–1–0.
Niverville outshot Selkirk by a 36–35 margin but had trouble staying out of the penalty box, which cost them the game. The Steelers capitalized three times on the power play.
Selkirk scored a trio of goals in quick succession in the second half of the first period to jump out to a 3–0 lead. The Steelers added two more goals in the second period to make it 5–0 and put the game out of reach.
Matthew Bertolin scored the lone consolation goal for the Nighthawks with a minute left in the game.
Niverville’s Raiden LeGall stopped 30 shots in the loss.
“They pulled our team into their style of play, and got into the boys’ train of thoughts,” says Nighthawks head coach Dwight Hirst. “We didn’t play our style or type of game that we would have liked. It was a night where our penalty kill let us down, and I don’t want the outcomes to deter how we play physically either. It just wasn’t our night on the penalty kill.”
The Nighthawks are back in action with a home game on Friday, September 27 against the Winnipeg Blues. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
“It will become a night to reflect on our game as a team and take away some important learning points this evening,” says Hirst. “We can’t choose when to play the right way and when to play your own way. The smaller habits that we didn’t execute were the differences of our outcome tonight. We were not good on our details and execution. The way we respond Friday at home will show if we can mature as a hockey club and realize what drives our success.”
