Flyers leading scorer Matt Christian scored twice, including the overtime winner as the Winkler Flyers ended the Steinbach Pistons’ 8 game win streak with a 3-2 victory.
Christian walked out front by himself and snapped one over goalie Matt Radomsky for the win. Flyers starting goalie Troy Martyniuk made 35 saves in the victory, while Radomsky made 21 saves in the loss.
The outlook was positive after the game, as the Pistons felt they played their style of hockey. “Our team played really well, but just a couple of unfortunate events took place late in the game,” Radomsky noted when asked about the overtime goal. “We got stuck in our end, and the puck went in.”
It was a tight-checking 1st period, as the Flyers kept the Pistons from gaining the middle of the ice, however the Pistons still directed 16 shots towards Martyniuk in the first.
In the second, Flyers captain Nolan McGuire stripped Brady Tatro in the Pistons zone, and his pass deflected off of Nolan Ferguson’s stick and found its way past Radomsky for the first goal of the game. The Pistons rebounded very quickly as Will Koop took a pass from Bradley Schoonbaert, and wired his 11th goal of the season over the glove of Martyniuk for the 1-1 tie.
Jack Johnson gave the Pistons the lead early in the third as he fired one over the blocking arm of Martyniuk for a 2-1 lead. Afterwards, the Pistons took two crucial penalties late in the third, and the Flyers were able to capitalize on a rebound, as Christian scored his first of the game to send it to overtime.
“We want to be in games like this when it’s tight and competitive,” assistant coach Joey Moggach. “Winkler is a heavy team and they’re tough to play against. I just thought it was a good game, and I have a lot of respect for that team.”
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Pistons went 0 for 4 on the powerplay, and killed off 4 of 5 penalties.
ROUGH STUFF
The end of the second period got chippy, as captain Braden Purtill and Flyers F Brett Opperman were kicked out of the game for fighting with 20 seconds left in the period. Ferguson and forward Coltyn Bates also got off-setting roughing penalties after Bates shot the puck into the Pistons net after the whistle 11 seconds after.
UP NEXT: The Pistons are back at it as they host the Portage Terriers on Wednesday night. The Terriers have defeated Steinbach in both meetings this season.