The Niverville Nighthawks got back into the win column in a big way with a 3–2 shootout win over the Portage Terriers at the CRRC on Saturday evening. With the win, the Nighthawks stay in third place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 7–3–1.
Niverville got off to a good start with a first period goal from the team’s captain, Brett Tataryn, on the power play. In the second period, Kyle Bochek potted home his third goal of the season to extend the lead to 2–0.
In the final period, Portage pushed hard and was able to get a couple of goals past the Nighthawks to tie the game at 2–2 and send it to overtime.
After the scoreless five minutes extra period, the two teams headed to a shootout. Michael Tanchak and Kyle Bochek both scored for the Nighthawks in the shootout to give the home team a thrilling victory.
Raiden LeGall was stellar in the Nighthawks net, making 26 saves for the win.
“We really weren’t happy with our embarrassing performance last night losing 7–1, so to come back and play a really good team and get contributions all over the lineup was really positive,” said Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech. “I thought we played well enough to win. There were some unfortunate bounces when they tied the game, but that happens. And overall I think if we play to our identity, we will win more often than not.”
The Nighthawks have also reunited with star forward Brendan Bottem from last season. After beginning the year with the NAHL’s Bismarck Bobcats, Bottem has joined the Nighthawks again, making his debut over the weekend.
“Brenden had an awesome year last season with us,” said Cech. “He always had a home to come back to here after his time in the NAHL. And it’s a huge boost for our team.”
Cech was also quick to praise the netminder Raiden LeGall, giving the rookie a lot of credit. LeGall now improves to 4–1 on the season.
“Raiden was excellent. We had a pretty clear plan on our penalty kill, the guys did an excellent job in front of him, and LeGall stopped everything that he could see. That’s what you want to see from your goalie. He made two enormous saves in the shootout that won the game for us as well, so we’re lucky to have him.”
The Nighthawks are back in action for the MJHL Showcase on Monday and Tuesday, with games at the Seven Oaks Sportsplex in Winnipeg against the Dauphin Kings and OCN Blizzard, respectively. The puck drop for both games is 4:00 p.m.