The Dauphin Kings will look to force a game seven in their best-of-seven quarterfinal series with the Swan Valley Stampeders with a win in game six Tuesday night at Credit Union Place.
After dropping the first two games last weekend, Dauphin got back into the series with a 6-3 triumph in game three, Mar. 28, in Swan River.
The Stampeders took a strangle hold on the series with a 3-2 double overtime victory in game four, Friday in Dauphin, but the Kings stayed alive with a double overtime victory of their own, Saturday in Swan River to bring the series back to Dauphin.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said there is a fine line between wins and losses right now.
“You’ve got to make a break count,” he said. “There was a real good crowd in Swan (in game five) and a good atmosphere and I think the guys responded very well. We worked hard, did some simple things, played well defensively, and, obviously, got a big goal from Deepkaran Hans at a good time to force a game six. We’re fighting and a lot of guys really stepped up and responded very well.”
Friday’s game four loss came after Jakob Brook was called for a questionable boarding penalty early in the second extra period. Swan Valley capitalized on the man advantage when Adam Rajsigl scored his second of the game at 2:18.
Even though they were down three-games-to-one at the time, the Kings were not down for the count yet.
“There’s a lot of clichés you can come up with and reiterate. But at the same time, you haven’t lost a thing until you lose four. So that was the message. We’ve won in that building three times already this year and every game has been so close,” Hedley said. “You just have to keep on fighting. Right now we’re out of second opportunities. It’s just a matter of being focused, being game ready and bringing the best possible effort and compete level that we can.”
With the exception of game three, every contest has been close with four of the first five games decided by one goal. That was the trend established in the regular season where the Kings won four of the six games, with five being decided by just one goal.
“We knew it was going to be real tight, regardless of the standings. When we play Swan, they’re tight games and they go back and forth. It’s nothing different that we expected with the regular season that we played against them. Right now, there are guys on both sides that are stepping up and playing real well,” Hedley said.
The focus for game six, Hedley said, is simple - win.
“Like I said, we don’t have any second chances. The compete level has got to be there,” he said, adding Dmytro Kubritskyi played well in goal in game five after coming into the game to start the second period in relief of Cole Sheffield, who allowed two goals on 15 shots. “Kubritskyi coming in was just to quiet things down, settle things down. He played with the experience that he has and going forward, I think we need to do the same thing. Just go out and do the simple things,” Hedley said.
Defenceman Owen Wareham left game five with a knee injury after a knee-on-knee collision with Swan Valley defenceman Owen Harris.
There was no penalty called on the play, but the Kings have submitted video seeking disciplinary action.
Wareham was to be re-evaluated Monday. If he should be unable to play, Hedley said it is next man up and, hopefully, Wareham can return as soon as possible.
Kings court: The Portage Terriers advanced to the semifinals with a five-game series win over the first-year Niverville Nighthawks. The Virden Oil Capitals, also advanced after beating the OCN Blizzard in six games. The Winkler Flyers, after falling behind three-games-to-one to the Steinbach Pistons, have come back to force a game seven, which takes place tonight in Steinbach.
