Losses pile up for Neepawa Natives

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Published on Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Left to right: Assistant coach Ryan Menei & head coach Dustin Howden stand behind the players during the Saturday, Nov. 26 game against the Portage Terriers. 

The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

Much like the stuffed toys that rained down upon them during the Portage Terriers annual Teddy Bear Toss on Saturday, Nov. 26, the losses continue to pile up for the Neepawa Natives. The MJHL club dropped a pair last weekend, first at home to Virden on Friday, Nov. 25 by the score of 3-2. Less than 24 hours later, Neepawa was upended in Portage la Prairie 7-4. 

The game against the Oil Capitals was a disappointing one, mainly due to the way they lost, as a pair of suspect penalty calls in the third period placed Neepawa at a disadvantage. The Oil Caps jumped at the chance gifted to them and scored on both power-play opportunities. Jeran Knorr netted a goal with the man advantage 7:36 into the third to tie the game at 2-2.  Virden forward Carter Cowlthorp then scored the second power-play goal with 6:53 remaining in regulation, giving the Oil Capitals a 3-2 win. Sam Schultz scored the first goal of the night for the Oil Caps in the first and added two assists. Neepawa, meanwhile, had goals, first from Matthew Millan on a power-play and then one from Zach Johnson. Both of those were in the second period. After the game, Neepawa head coach Dustin Howden expressed frustration, but not with his team’s effort. 

“[The players] went out there tonight and did exactly what you ask them to do. Play smart with the puck and limit the number of chances you give your opponent. Virden had only 19 shots on goal, I believe tonight, so we did that,” stated Howden. “Some unfortunate penalties called against us. They were penalties, but you hope that at that point of the game and the way that the game is going that….,Well, the penalties were penalties and we had to kill them off.”

Neepawa had to put that game behind them quickly and focus on their next challenge, the Portage Terriers. The game, hosted at the PCU Centre in Portage la Prairie, was the annual Teddy Bear Toss, in which the fans would throw stuffed toys onto the ice after the first Terriers goal.  It didn’t take long for the bears to start flying, as Layne Toder scored on a power-play chance just 1:57 into the opening period. After a slight delay to clear the ice of several hundred stuffed animals, collected for the Salvation Army’s Christmas hamper campaign, the Terriers added a second goal to make it 2-0. Both Portage and Neepawa would score a pair of goals apiece before the end of the first to make it 4-2. Newcomer Josh Sielsky scored the first for the Natives and followed that up with an assist to a goal from Justin Metcalf. That was Metcalf’s 16th goal and 27th point on the season. Neepawa had 17 shots on goal in the first period compared to nine from the Terriers.

The second period was a strong one for Neepawa, as they rifled 16 shots on net while allowing just five against. That effort paid off with Ashton Anderson scoring his sixth goal and 20th point of the season, cutting the margin to 4-3 heading into the third period.

The Terriers would find their groove in the third period, outshooting the Natives 14-9 and outscoring them 3-1. Those totals resulted in a 7-4 final for Portage. Terriers goaltender Brock Aiken backstopped the Terriers to the win, stopping 38 of the 42 shots Neepawa threw at him.

These losses dropped Neepawa’s regular season record to 7-19-0. The next home game for Neepawa is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3 versus the Steinbach Pistons. Start time at the Yellowhead Centre is set for 7:30 p.m.