Winnipeg Blues beat Neepawa

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Published on Wednesday, December 10, 2014

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

The Christmas hiatus can’t arrive soon enough for the Neepawa Natives, as they are in desperate need of some extra time to recover from their recent injury woes. The team put in a valiant effort against the Winnipeg Blues on Tuesday, Dec. 9 but were unable to overcome the 17th ranked club in the nation, falling 2-1.

The game started off on a positive note for Neepawa, as Justin Metcalf opened the scoring less than three minutes into the first period. Jeremy McNeil and Ashton Anderson assisted on the play. The Blues countered however just a few minutes later with a goal from forward Liam Bilton to make the score 1-1 after 20 minutes. Winnipeg was able to outshoot Neepawa in the first period by an 18-11 margin.

The lack of depth of the bench started to catch up to Neepawa late in the second period, as Bilton notched his second goal of the game on a power play, giving the Blues a 2-1 lead entering the third period.

The Natives were able to find their second wind in the final frame and put some pressure on Winnipeg but could not tie things up, making the final score 2-1 for the Blues. Reid Stallard played well in net for Neepawa, stopping 40 of the 42 shots he faced.

The loss was the second in a row for the Natives and dropped their record to 10-21-1. The team has amassed 21 points as they reach the mid way point of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League regular season.

The next home game for Neepawa is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 14, against the Portage Terriers.