The U18 Interlake Lightning opened their Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League season with back-to-back losses on home ice over the weekend, falling 7-0 to the Winnipeg Wild on Friday and 5-2 to the Winnipeg Thrashers on Saturday at Teulon-Rockwood Arena.
Friday’s season opener was a tough one for the Lightning, as the Wild offence clicked early and often. Jack Ross opened the scoring at 5:29 of the first period, and Winnipeg exploded for four goals in the second — including Ross’s second of the night, a power-play marker from Cody Farrell, and tallies from Anthony Bedard and Liam Brownlee — to build a commanding 5-0 lead. Bedard added his second of the game in the third period, and Ryan Strilchuk capped the scoring less than 20 seconds later to secure the shutout.
Interlake goaltender Seth Schaeffer faced relentless pressure throughout the night, turning aside 55 of 62 shots as the Lightning were outshot 62-14. Wild netminder Chase Kettles stopped all 14 shots he faced.
The Lightning showed more spark in their second outing on Saturday, but the Thrashers’ depth and pressure proved too much in a 5-2 loss. Winnipeg jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period on goals from Cale Aitkenhead and Preston Flett before Madden van Kemenade responded with Interlake’s first goal of the season at 12:25, assisted by Jackson Toporoski. Brody Huver tied the game 2-2 early in the second, finishing a setup from van Kemenade, but the Thrashers answered with goals from Tyson Polanski and Liam Saly — the latter on the power play — to take a 4-2 lead into the third.
Zennon Chernecki added an insurance goal midway through the final frame, while Interlake goaltender Grayson McDonald turned aside 48 of 53 shots in a busy night between the pipes.
With the weekend losses, Interlake falls to 0-2 to start the season. The Lightning will look to rebound when they return to home ice on Saturday, Oct. 4, to host the Brandon Wheat Kings. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Teulon-Rockwood Arena.
