The Winkler Flyers kicked off their playoff campaign as they headed to Niverville to take on the league’s #1 ranked team.
Right out of the gates, both teams played at an extremely high pace as a packed CRRC provided an intense playoff atmosphere. Winkler earned themselves an advantage on the power play just over 3 minutes into the period and looked to get on the scoreboard first. The Nighthawks came out strong on the PK and managed to sneak in a goal giving them a 1-0 lead, but Winkler recovered quickly by answering back just 20 seconds later, evening things up with a power play goal from Ethan MacTavish. Niverville gained the lead again at the 7:56 mark, making it 2-1. Owen Wallace scored his first of the playoffs as he fired one in from the point, tying things up at 2 heading into the first intermission.
The second period saw the Flyers carrying the play early, while they pressed to gain the lead. Unfortunately, Winkler found themselves down 2 men on a 5 on 3 power play after 2 x delay of game penalties in just 30 seconds. The Nighthawks capitalized making it 3-2 on a back door tap in. It went from bad to worse as Winkler struggled to find an answer for a consistent Nighthawk attack, while also having the tying goal called back as it was determined the puck was knocked in with a hand. Niverville scored 2 more unanswered goals in the period and carried a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Niverville made the best of anther power-play in the third as they distanced themselves further from the Flyers making it 6-2. This night was one Winkler will look to learn from as they ended up dropping an 8-2 decision after all the dust settled.
The good news is, the Flyers have a chance to tie up the series Monday night at the Centennial. Don’t miss it!!
