The Niverville Nighthawks came up short on offence on Wednesday night at the CRRC, getting blanked 2–0 by the Winkler Flyers. With the loss, the Nighthawks stay in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 15–10–1.
As the game got underway, the Flyers had a slight edge over the Nighthawks, a dynamic that would carry forward through the rest of the contest. Winkler scored early in the first period, and then again late in the second period.
A couple of power plays for Niverville in the third period failed to yield any goals, and that was the ballgame.
Raiden LeGall stopped 23 shots in net for the Nighthawks.
“Winkler defends very well and locks things down, as they are great in the middle of the ice,” said Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech. “We had the puck a lot, but they defended well and scored on a couple of deflections for the only goals of the game.”
This was Cech’s last game with the Nighthawks until after the World Junior A Challenge, which runs from December 10–17 in Truro, Nova Scotia. Until then, assistant general manager Mike McAulay will be joining the coaching staff.
The Nighthawks now have a week off before getting back on the ice next Wednesday, December 6, for another home game against the Winnipeg Blues. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
“The guys are down after this loss tonight, but we’ve got to come back with some good vibes,” said Cech. “That’s a good team, and we have got to learn from that and just try to keep getting better.”
Prior to puck drop tonight, the Nighthawks honoured Rich Gosselin, who was born in St. Pierre-Jolys and raised in St. Malo. A former draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens, Gosselin was one of the top players to ever come out of southeastern Manitoba. He went on to have a very successful pro career in Switzerland.
