It was a packed house at the CRRC on Saturday night, and fans from both sides were treated to an edge-of-the-seat, back-and-forth thriller, where it was the Niverville Nighthawks coming out on top against the Steinbach Pistons, 5-4.
First period
Early on, it was the visiting Pistons that came out on their toes.
The road team was pushing the pace and, with that, earned a couple of solid chances, but were turned away.
Rory Gilmour eventually got Steinbach on the board as the star defender walked in from the blueline and snapped his 9th of the season past the Nighthawks goalie, making it 1-0 Steinbach.
Jackson Kostiuk, making his Pistons re-debut after returning to the team a couple of weeks ago, picked up an assist, as did Brett Kaiser, who had a very strong night himself.
Niverville would answer back with a pair of goals just over a minute apart.
First, it was Parker Rolston who found some quiet space in the slot after a clean faceoff win by John Scott worked the puck back to Aaron Krestanowich, who hustled his way down the boards before firing a pass to the open Rolston, who buried his 4th of the year, making it 1-1.
A minute and one second later, Kole Mears would celebrate his 8th of the season as he drove the slot, taking a beautiful feed from Loic Leduc, giving Niverville a 2-1 lead. Dawson Zeller added the secondary assist.
In the final seconds, Jack Greenwell of Steinbach broke into the zone and earned his team a power play as he was hooked up.
With an offensive zone faceoff and 3.1 seconds left on the clock, it didn’t appear as if much would happen.
That would be wrong.
Sam Noad scrummed the draw and kicked it into open space for Greenwell, who unloaded a perfect shot up and over the shoulder of the goalie, kissing the crossbar on its way into the net, knotting the game 2-2.
For the 20-year-old Greenwell, it was his team leading 24th of the year, which also gives him the most goals in the MJHL currently.
Shots in the period were 12-10 Niverville, with the Pistons’ goalie Hunter Bauer and Nighthawks’ tender Austin Dubinsky, both being called on to make some tricky saves throughout the frame.
Second period
Scoring late in the first, Steinbach tried to use that momentum in the second, but the Nighthawks were right there to push back.
Steinbach eventually did earn the lead as Noad bullied his way to the front of the net, and while he was being taken down by a Nighthawks defender, found a loose puck and buried his 7th of the season. Greenwell picked up his second point of the night while Marek Miller also added the primary assist.
Niverville responded a few minutes later with another hard-working, skilled goal, as MJHL point-leader Hayden Wheddon tied the game with his 16th of the campaign, with Krestanowich notching his second point of the contest, and Merik Boles also chipping in with a helper.
As the period went along, both teams had their opportunities to grab a lead, but it wasn’t until another Pistons man advantage that the next goal would be celebrated.
Steinbach worked the puck around the zone as Niverville did a stellar job defending all the lanes. Not panicking, Steinbach kept puck control until they finally worked it into middle ice, where Evan Gradt received the pass, turned and fired a sneaky backhand through the netminder and in for his 16th of the season. Kostiuk and Miller each picked up their second assists on the 4-3 goal.
As the Pistons did at the end of the first, it was Niverville’s turn to deliver a last-minute kick to the gut.
With time ticking away in the second, the Nighthawks put on their work boots and hard hats, went into the corner and out-muscled the Steinbach defenders, eventually finding a wide-open Boles in front, who made no mistake snapping home the 4-4 goal. For Boles, it’s now 14 on the year with Adam Vigfusson getting the lone assist.
Third period
Each team had opportunities to break the deadlock, but again, strong goaltending on both sides turned those chances away.
Nearing the midway point, a dustup in the Nighthawks’ zone occurred, as Greenwell took his man, Tyler Bernier, hard into the boards, resulting in a pending penalty. Bernier took exception to the hit and went right back at Greenwell, managing to drop a glove and throw a couple of punches.
Greenwell was given a minor for boarding, and after discussing, the officials ruled that Bernier would be charged with a major for fighting.
After the two minutes of four-on-four, the Pistons went to work on the power play, but the Nighthawks did an excellent job of keeping the Pistons hemmed in their own zone or in the neutral zone, never really allowing anything great to happen in the three-minute advantage.
A big part of the penalty kill was Evan Panzer, who would be rewarded for that hard work with a shift later on, which resulted in the forward scoring his 13th of the year, putting Niverville up 5-4. Ryken Arran notched the lone assist on what would be the final goal of the night.
Steinbach pushed late, but Dubinsky and the defence held, and as the horn sounded, the CRRC fans saluted their team by getting on their feet and giving them a standing ovation.
Dubinsky secured the win for the home side, while Hunter Bauer was saddled with his first loss of the season.
Steinbach’s power play was 2-3, while their penalty kill was a perfect 2-2.
Game notes
With the win, the Nighthawks increase their lead atop the MJHL standings, with a record of 28-2-1, lead the Pistons by six points and have played two fewer games.
Jack Greenwell has a six-game point streak, scoring 5 goals and adding 3 assists in that span.
Rory Gilmour has scored in two straight games and has a four-game point streak, putting up 2 goals and 5 assists in that time.
Sam Noad has a three-game point streak and scored goals in back-to-back games for the first time since the first and second games of the season, on top of collecting 8 points in his last 7 games.
Jackson Kostiuk had two assists in his return to Steinbach.
Marek Miller has 6 points in his last 5 games.
Brett Kaiser, with his assist, has notched 8 points against Niverville this year.
Evan Panzer has scored in three of the five games vs Steinbach, but has at least a point in all five games.
Aaron Krestanowich has 5 points in his last 5 games, and has put up 4 points against Steinbach this season.
Dawson Zeller has 4 points in his last 2 games.
Niverville vs Steinbach this year has been heavily tilted in Niverville’s favour, as they have a record of 4-0-1, compared to Steinbach’s 1-4 posting.
Story Courtesy of Steinbachonline.com
