Brendan Martin had 2 goals, Will Koop had a goal and an assist, and Matt Radomsky made a cool 15 saves, as the Steinbach Pistons celebrated Miller Day the right way with a 5-0 win over the Selkirk Steelers.
Hayden Dola was the opposing netminder for the Steelers, as he stopped 23 of 28 shots on the net. The shutout is Radomsky’s MJHL leading 7th of the season.
The Pistons were wearing special Miller jerseys to commemorate minor hockey in Steinbach. After an cool heritage classic game where the alumni of the Millers played a fun little shinny game, the Pistons got right down to business early. Jack Johnson centered a pass for Will Koop, and he buried his 21st goal of the season just 89 seconds into the game. Near the halfway point, a nice little passing play by Bradley Schoonbaert and Luke Bellerose set up Drew Worrad for a nifty deke backhander to give the Pistons a 2-0 lead. They would take that lead into the first intermission.
Play was neutral throughout the first 15 minutes of the second period, as both sides clogged up the middle of the ice. The Pistons were finally able to break the goose egg in the period, as Martin tipped a Daniel McKitrick shot past Dola for a 3-0 lead. Koop picked his assist on the Martin goal at the 15:56 mark of the second.
In the late stages of the third period, Martin intercepted an attempted Selkirk breakout pass, and fired in his second goal of the night unassisted at 12:55 of the third. The two goals give Martin 14 on the year, and a sizzling 6 goals in his past 3 games. Darby Gula put the icing on the cake to cap off Miller Day a minute later, when he wired one past Dola for the 5-0 goal. Brady Tatro assisted Gula’s 13th of the year.
SCHOONBAERT REACHES 70
With his assist on Drew Worrad’s first period goal, Bradley Schoonbaert reached the 70 point mark for the second consecutive season. He is on pace to break the single season record for points in the season. The record is currently held by longtime Piston Dan Taillefer, who registered 81 points in the 2015-16 season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Pistons only had 1 power play on the night, which they did not score on. They killed off all 5 penalties they faced.
UP NEXT: The Pistons will head to Portage on Wednesday night to take on the Terriers in one of their biggest games of the season. The puck drops at 7:30 pm.