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Friday, February 7, 2025

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In their pursuit of a playoff spot, the Virden Oil Capitals earned two big victories last week.

On Feb. 2, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League team beat the Winnipeg Blues 3-1. Two nights before, in front of 736 fans at home, the Oil Capitals romped past the MJHL Western Division-leading Dauphin Kings, 8-0. It was goaltender Loic Morin's first shutout as an Oil Capital. Eight different players scored for Virden. Noel Englot and defenceman Rhylan Baxter led the team with three points each.

"It’s always great when the game just flows and everything falls into place like when you’re playing and you can sense the team is totally in sync," Baxter said. "We were connecting with our passes, lines were buzzing, and everyone seemed to be anticipating each other's moves. When you get that kind of rhythm, it's almost like the game slows down, and everything just feels easier. It was just a fun game to be a part of especially when we needed those points to help us stay in a playoff spot and to beat the team at the top of our division. Just going out every shift and keeping it simple was key for us all game long and by us doing that we came out with a big win."

As of Feb. 2, the Oil Capitals had an 18-23-1-0 record. That put them in fourth place with 37 points in the Western Division, which would be the last playoff spot. The Waywayseecappo Wolverines were two points behind at 35 with a 16-24-2-1 record.

The Oil Capitals host the Swan Valley Stampeders on Feb. 7. The next night the team competes in Selkirk. On Feb. 11, the Virden squad heads to Waywayseecappo.

Oil Caps 8, Kings 0

Morin stopped all 30 shots that the Kings sent his way. It was his second MJHL shutout. He recorded one last season playing for the then OCN, now Northern Manitoba, Blizzard. Morin joined the Oil Capitals in January.

"Loic works extremely hard in the net,"

Virden head coach Tyson Ramsey said. "He is athletic and really good at reading plays in front of him and swallowing up pucks to not allow second and third chances. He has really helped our penalty kill as well. He is a calming influence for our guys and has been a key addition to our team on and off the ice."

The Oil Capitals got rolling offensively just before the halfway point in the first period. Carson Wright scored on the powerplay at 9:05. Adler Johnston made it 2-0 with a goal with the man advantage 34 seconds later. At the 10:26 mark, defencemanTyler Dodgson scored at even strengths. Just over three minutes later Marshall Light made the score 4-0 for Virden. With just over a minute remaining in the frame, Englot made it 5-0.

In the second period, Baxter and Cole Robertson found the back of the net to give Virden a 7-0 lead. Oak Lake Beach's Tyson Draper capped the scoring with a powerplay marker in the third.

Draper, Johnston, Light, and captain Ethan Gurthie all recorded two points. Kings goalie Bryson Yaschyshyn made 19 saves on 27 shots.

Oil Caps 3, Blues 1

On Feb. 2, Maddox Shindle put the Oil Capitals on top, 1-0, just less than three minutes into the game. With just more than five minutes left in the period, Draper lit the lamp to make it 2-0. In the second period, Brock Assailly scored for the Blues to cut Virden's lead to one, 2-1. Wright's marker in the third stretched the Oil Capitals' lead to two, 3-1.

"I thought we had to grind things out a little bit," Ramsey said. "Our first period was decent, but in the second period we got away from our structure and what had made us successful the last couple games. We were better in the third and at the end of the day were able to get two huge points."

Morin made 17 saves. Samuel Couture stopped 30 shots for the Blues.

Oil Caps romp past Kings, grind out win versus Blues

By Robin Wark