It didn’t come easy, and at this time of the year the wins never do, but the Niverville Nighthawks found a way to earn a gritty 3–2 victory over the Swan Valley Stampeders at the CRRC.
Exactly one week after edging Swan Valley 2–0 on the road, Niverville once again ran into a red-hot goaltender in Easton Falls. The Stampeders netminder was outstanding, turning aside 49 shots and giving his club every opportunity to steal the result.
Despite heavily outshooting the Stampeders 11–4 in the first period, the Nighthawks couldn’t solve Falls early. The breakthrough finally came in the second after killing off a Swan Valley power play. With a man advantage of their own, Evan Panzer wired home his twenty-third of the season from the slot to open the scoring as the puck found its way through Falls.
Niverville piled on the shots but couldn’t find a way to light the lamp, and they appeared poised to carry that 1–0 lead into the intermission, but with just 48 seconds remaining Tristan Langan finished off a wild sequence to tie it up at one apiece.
Wylie Smith broke up a three-on-two rush by the Nighthawks and quickly sent a pass up to Dylan Ruff at the Niverville blueline. In what turned out to be a four-on-one, Chornomydz made the first save on Ruff, then a second save on Crosby Harrison, before Langan eventually banked the puck off Chornomydz and in.
Despite controlling much of the play in the second, outshooting the visitors 21–8, the Nighthawks and Stampeders headed to the third period deadlocked.
The home side reclaimed the lead early in the third when John Scott’s centring attempt deflected off Karson Connelly’s skate and beat a surprised Falls to make it 2–1.
Marlen Edwards, fresh off a four-point effort earlier in the week, extended the lead to 3–1 on the power play with his seventeenth of the season, finishing a one-timer from the right circle. The goal gave Edwards two points. The 19-year-old from Winnipeg has collected six points in the last two games.
But Swan Valley refused to go quietly. Just 1:38 later, Langan struck again, burying a rebound after a great individual effort by Ruff, who was initially stopped on a wraparound, to cut the deficit to 3–2 and set up a tense finish.
While Falls continued his stellar play at one end, Niverville’s Chornomydz had to stay sharp at the other despite facing far fewer shots through two periods.
Swan Valley pressed hard with the net empty in the final minute, but Chornomydz came up with two key late stops to preserve the win.
“You know, most goalies will say it’s tough when you’re facing just 12 shots in the first two periods and you’re watching the other goalie battle through 52 shots,” says head coach Dwight Hirst. “You’ve got to be big in those moments and I thought Ben did a good job of that tonight… Putting up 52 shots was huge for us, and I thought their goaltender played amazing. There was probably four or five grade-A chances that he got over and made the saves.”
The victory improves Niverville to 45–6–1–0 on the season and extends its winning streak to five games. More importantly, the Nighthawks now hold a five-point cushion over the Steinbach Pistons for top spot in the East Division and overall league standings, with just six games remaining in the regular season.
The Nighthawks are back on the ice in their second-last home game of the regular season on Saturday night when they welcome the Waywayseecappo Wolverines to the CRRC. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.
See below for the game’s highlight reel.