Captain Chapen Leblond scored twice in a five goal second period as the Winkler Flyers knocked off the Dauphin Kings 9-2 on Tuesday night in a battle between the two division leaders in the MJHL. It was the second straight in game in which the Flyers put up nine goals as they increase their league best record to 13-2.


The Flyers opened the scoring early on Tuesday just like they did in their 9-4 win over Steinbach on Sunday. In that game, Chapen Leblond scored the first goal of the game just over a minute into the contest. Against the Kings on Tuesday it took only 11 seconds.


Kyle Manlow carried the puck into the Kings zone off the opening faceoff and forced it towards the front of the net. Linemates' Daniel Fainman and Brock Vanderveen both got their sticks on the puck but it was Vanderveen who got the final whack at it as it slid through the legs of Dauphin starter Dawson Guhle giving Winkler an early 1-0 lead.


The Kings tied the game at one just over eight minutes into the game on one of their 20 shots in the period. Getting lost in the Flyers offensive outburst was the play of goaltender Corey Koop who made 19 of his eventual 38 saves in the first period alone. The rest of the team would reward him for that later in the first period.


Just before the halfway point of the first, forward Dylan Dock and Ben Reinbolt took control of the puck along the wall deep inside Kings territory. After cycling it down low for some time, Reinbolt pushed it to the right point for Steve Sorensen who fired a shot through Guhle putting the Flyers back in front. Less than a minute later Jory Mullin scored his sixth of the year from Leblond and Jordan Neduzak giving Winkler a 3-1 lead with just over nine minutes to play in the opening frame. Koop shut the door in the back half of the period to allow the Flyers to take their two goal lead into the intermission despite being out-shot 20-7 through the first 20 minutes.


The Flyers started the second period the same way they began the first period, with an early goal. Starting the middle frame on the power-play Sorensen slid the puck over to Leblond at the point who one timed the shot over the shoulder of Ryan Bembridge giving Winkler a 4-1 lead. Bembridge replaced Guhle to start the period. Minutes later, Sorensen and Leblond assisted on Jordan Neduzak's 10th of the season as he beat Bembridge through the five hole to push Winkler ahead by four goals just 2:03 into the second.


Kings leading scorer Jesse Sinatynski cut the Flyers lead to 5-2 with a power-play goal at the 8:07 mark of the period. The Flyers got that one back when Connor Patchett, Chapen Leblond and Eric Hansey scored in a span of five minutes to cap off the Flyers five goal second period giving them an 8-2 lead through 40 minutes. All the while, the Kings were out-shooting the Flyers 35-17 through the first two periods. There was also a spirited fight midway through the second period between Blake Kirkham of the Kings and Winkler native Chad Unrau. Both players traded heavy shots and earned the applause from their teams and the fans.


Unlike their win over Steinbach two nights earlier, the Flyers kept the peddle down in the third. Dylan Dock scored the Flyers ninth goal of the game, 7:37 into the frame finishing off a nice tic tac toe passing sequence with linemates Ben Reinbolt and Tyson Stoesz. Dock's third of the campaign would be the final goal of the night.


It was one of the best all around games of the year for Winkler. Everyone from the goaltender out was in top form. Koop finished the game with 38 saves as the Flyers were out-shot 40-30. Each team scored one goal on the man-advantage and exactly like the game on Sunday, all but four of the Flyers skaters made it on to the scoresheet.


Leblond lead the way with two goals and two assists to lead the team with 24 points through 15 games. Jordan Neduzak, Nate Jose, Jory Mullin, Ben Reinbolt, Steve Sorensen and Tyson Stoesz also recorded multi-point nights.


After scoring just one goal in their two losses to the Terriers and Steelers last week, the Flyers have scored 18 goals in their last two games, both wins over the Pistons and Kings.


The win improved the Flyers record to 13-2 as they prepare for a game against the Winnipeg Blues, Thursday night at the MTS Iceplex in Winnipeg. The Flyers and Blues both have 26 points but the Flyers do have two games in hand as they will look to put some separation between themselves and the Blues at the top of the standings.


Following Thursday's game in Winnipeg, the Flyers will play a pair of home games on the weekend. They will host Waywayseecappo on Saturday night and will host the Winnipeg Saints on Sunday, both games start at 7:30 p.m.

Head Coach Ken Pearson has announced a trade sending defenseman Kyle Madsen (92) to the Neepawa Natives for future considerations. Madsen appeared in five games for the Flyers collecting one assist. The Flyers have also released forward Jacob Daughtry (93). He scored one goal and added an assist in eight games played in a Flyer uniform. He was picked up by the Battlefords North Stars of the SJHL.

Game Stats