The Dauphin Kings answered the bell on Wednesday night, earning a 5-2 win over the Steinbach Pistons on home ice to send the MJHL Championship Series back to Steinbach tied at 2-2.
It was a great start for the Kings who stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the opening twenty minutes. Klim Georgiev fired a seeing-eye shot on net that found its way through Simon Harkness to give the Kings a 1-0 lead just 2:24 into the 1st.
No more than six minutes later, Garrett Hrechka tipped down a point shot from Jeriah Shantz that bounced past Harnkess, giving the Kings a two-goal lead.
On a powerplay opportunity, Brayden Dube entered the zone and curled to make a pass to Logan Calder in front. Calder found Mathew Rathbone open on the doorstep and would make no mistake in beating Harkness to give the Kings a 3-0 lead off a pretty passing play.
Steinbach would pull Simon Harkness and put Will Hambley back in net to try and spark a comeback after a flat opening twenty minutes.
The Pistons came to life in the 2nd after a scramble at the front of the Kings net saw the puck spit out to Quinton Pepper who would outwait Carson Cherepak to score his 8th of the postseason, cutting the Kings lead to 3-1.
Almost identical to Georgiev’s 1st period goal, Zac Patrick fired what seemed like a harmless shot on the Kings net that would find its way in to bring the Pistons within one heading into the 3rd period.
Nakodan Greyeyes took a slick feed from Kaden Bryant early in the 3rd and ripped a shot past Hambley to restore the Kings two-goal lead. Jeriah Shantz scored his 1st of the postseason when he pounced on a rebound in front off a point shot into the wide open net, giving the Kings a 5-2 lead.
Steinbach would make a push but that’s as close as things would get as the Dauphin Kings took a 5-2 win and tied the best-of-seven MJHL Championship Series at 2-2 heading back to Steinbach for game five on Friday night at the T.G. Smith Centre.
