The Nighthawks gave it a spirited effort on Monday night, but ultimately they found a way to lose their sixth straight game in a 3–2 backbreaker against the Steinbach Pistons. With the loss, the Nighthawks remain one point up on Selkirk for fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division.
Despite the losing skid, the Nighthawks are trying to stay positive and keep team morale as high as possible.
“We’ve tried to focus on one day at a time,” said Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech. “We had a really strong effort and a couple of bad bounces. We’ve tried frustration, we’ve tried anger, and other things that aren’t working. We came out and wanted to play our best and were darn close to that. So the guys are looking forward to getting back on the ice and preparing for the weekend.”
For much of tonight’s game, the Nighthawks took it to the top-ranked Pistons as it was a well-played, low-scoring contest. Ben Whitford opened the scoring for Niverville just a couple of minutes into the first period.
Steinbach got one back in the second period, before Niverville went ahead 2–1 early in the third period with a goal from Ty Kennett.
Sadly, the Pistons were able to score twice late in the third period to take the 3–2 victory.
“We didn’t get scored on when we were shorthanded, so that’s great, and now I owe the group a Big Mac each!” said Cech. “It was a clean game and was hard-fought at five-on-five. They had no odd-man rushes all night, and both goalies were fantastic. We know we can play well against a nationally ranked team, so we’re proud of that. This skid we’re on, we’re always tied or up a goal in every game. So we’re in these games, and we just want to keep playing our best, and hopefully the results will take care of themselves.”
The Nighthawks are back in action at home this weekend for a back-to-back on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) and Sunday (3:00 p.m.) against Selkirk and the Winnipeg Blues.
“Selkirk is behind us in the standings, but if we treat them like that, then by the time the game is over they won’t be behind us anymore. So it’s the biggest game of the year, and all of the guys know it. We’re really excited for it.”
