In a hard-fought encounter on the ice, the Virden Oil Capitals went head-to-head with the visiting Dauphin Kings, with a near-thousand-fans in the crowd fueling the competitive fire Saturday night.
The game had Tundra Oil & Gas Place pumped up!
The rink turned into a scene of controlled intensity, with 14 penalties reflecting the strong competitive determination during the full 60 minutes of play.
Virden hit the ground skating, with Josh Lehto firing the puck into the net merely 4 minutes into the first—his 9th of the season—courtesy of a powerplay carved out by the practical strategies of David Bielik and Grady Lane.
The second period saw the Oil Capitals capitalizing on a man advantage, as Nolan Chastko rifled the puck past Dauphin’s goaltender for his 11th of the season at the 2:27 mark, assisted by David Bielik and Braeden Lewis.As the period wound down, the Kings mounted a fierce comeback, slotting in two quick goals in the final minutes of the period. Havryil Simchuk sliced through the defense to score at 17:35, and Gabriel Bugeaud capitalized on a man advantage with only 6 seconds left on the clock.
The standoff at 2-2 persisted through the third, as both sides fortified their defense, forcing the game beyond regulation into the nerve-wracking crucible of a 5-minute overtime, which subsequently gave way to the ultimate decider: a shootout.
Shootout:
DAU – Goal
VOC – No Goal
DAU – No Goal
VOC – Goal
DAU – No Goal
VOC – No Goal
DAU – Goal
VOC – No Goal
The shootout concluded in a heartbreaker for the Caps, with the Dauphin Kings clinching victory by striking twice against the Caps’ lone goal, sealing the match with a tense 3-2 finale.
The Oil Caps will not see the Dauphin Kings again until December 5th, an away game for Virden.
Oil Caps Captain Trevor Hunt had this to say about Saturdays game:
“I thought we played pretty good. I thought we controlled the play for lots of the game however our discipline and a couple break downs led them to get some momentum in the second. We are going to have a good full week of practice and work on our execution to get ready for our next matchup against the Niverville Nighthawks on Saturday.”
