The Oil Caps continued their solid play as of late, defeating the Natives 3-1 in Neepawa on Friday night, and in the process, picked up their fifth win in a row.
“I think we got off to a slow start tonight but finished strong,” said Oil Caps forward Hunter Cloutier. “I think the team is really starting to gel and we’re buying into the system.”
The Oil Caps fell behind on a power play marker from Mackenzie Belinski at the 16:49 mark of the first before tying the game late in the period as Tanner Andrew’s ninth of the season with the man advantage at 19:03 made it 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Tristan Thompson’s fifth of the season less than two minutes into the second (1:41) gave the road team the lead and Kolten Kanaski’s 18thof the year at 11:16 gave the Oil Caps a two-goal edge after 40 minutes of play.
The Oil Caps would hold off the Natives in the third, eventually improving to 15-11-1-4 on the season. The Natives meanwhile, dropped to 7-18-3-2.
Oil Caps netminder Dalton Dosch made 32 saves, picking up his 12thwin of the season, while Kolby Thornton took the loss in net for Neepawa, stopping 32 shots directed his way.
Kanaski rolling
Oil Caps forward Kolten Kanaski continues to fill the back of the net as the Beausejour product leads the Oil Caps in scoring with 18 goals and 33 points in 27 games.
Oil Caps now in fifth place
With tonight’s win, the Oil Caps find themselves in fifth place in the MJHL standings, just two points behind fourth-place Dauphin.
Next up for the Oil Caps:Tuesday night in Winkler. Game time: 7 p.m.