Courtesy: Dave Anthony – Steinbach Online
It was a jolly, festive atmosphere at the Southeast Event Centre on Saturday night, and the Steinbach Pistons did their part to kick the party into high gear, defeating the Portage Terriers 5-0 to wrap up their pre-Christmas portion of the schedule.
Pre-game
With it being the final game before Christmas and the rival Terriers in town, there was a buzz in the building leading up to puck drop.
Many fans came in holiday hats, Santa made an appearance, but the real scene stealer was a young fan dressed in a Grinch outfit. He got a big round of applause as he helped drop the ceremonial face off.
First period
From the opening draw, Steinbach came out and executed their game plan. They got pucks in deep, pressured the Terriers’ defenders, forced turnovers and put a lot of pucks toward the goal.
All four lines were jumping. All the defenders were on their toes, moving pucks quickly, and that style seemed to suffocate the Terriers for stretches.
Physical play was evident, too. Eric Han set the tone early with a hard check along the boards that got a roar from the crowd.
An opportunity for Steinbach to open the scoring came on a power play, and after two great chances were stopped by the Terriers’ netminder, Grady Hoffman finally found the back of the net, scoring his 10th of the season from Zhenya Miles and Liam Doyle, making it 1-0 Steinbach.
Portage didn’t generate a lot in the opening period, but when they did, Hunter Bauer was there to stand tall for Steinbach.
The visitors’ best chance came when their leading scorer had a clear look in the slot, but rang the shot off the post.
Fight, fight, oh, nevermind
In the final minutes of the period, a Portage forward took a healthy run and Miles, who was caught off guard by a big hit behind his goal. Eric Han took exception and dropped the gloves with the Terrier.
The two circle each other, anticipation built as the would-be combatants drifted out to center ice. As they sized each other up, the energy in the crowd built. Both benches were standing, cheering on what they were sure would be a great tilt.
With all the buildup, the officials decided it was taking too long for the players to actually engage one another, so they jumped in and got between the two before anything happened.
Both players were given ten-minute misconducts.
Miles, who was shaken up on the hit, got looked over but stayed in the game.
1-0 would be the score heading into the first intermission, with Steinbach also leading in shots 20-6.
Second period
Both teams traded chances in the first half of the second period, but the goaltenders on both sides were rock solid, keeping it a 1-0 game.
That was until Jack Greenwell turned on the jets after picking a puck up in the neutral zone. The 20-year-old raced in and was hooked in the hands while on a breakaway, and because of that, he was awarded a penalty shot.
Greenwell made no mistake, snapping off a beautiful shot low blocker side, putting Steinbach up 2-0 with his 22nd goal of the season.
Not long after, Greenwell would strike again.
Keeping a play alive in the offensive zone, Greenwell circled around the Terrier’s net and through the slot. With Sam Noad and Marek Miller crashing the net and standing right at the top of the crease, Greenwell held onto the puck, picked his spot and fired a bullet up over the shoulder and under the crossbar for his second of the game.
The 3-0 goal was Greenwell’s 23rd of the campaign, and was assisted by Doyle and Noad.
Bauer again wasn’t called on often, but the 19-year-old had to fight through some traffic at times, as he made 7 more saves, keeping Portage off the board through two periods.
Third period
Under a minute and a half into the final frame, a harmless-looking play would result in Steinbach’s fourth goal of the game.
It all started in the neutral zone, where Doyle moved up to the redline and shot a puck into the Portage zone. Instead of peeling off, Doyle surprised the Terriers’ defenders by rushing in and beating everyone to the puck that hit off the back boards.
Doyle fired a quick shot from a very tight angle that went off the pad of the Portage goalie and in, giving the 20-year-old defender 6 goals on the year, and putting Steinbach up 4-0. Rory Gilmour picked up the lone assist.
Meant to do that
Hoffman would cap off the night for Steinbach, scoring his second of the game, although it came in a bit of wild fashion.
Portage tried to move the puck up the wall in their defensive zone, but Evan Gradt forced them out of space, so when they tried to pass it up, it hit off Brett Kaiser and found a wide-open Hoffman, who was behind the Terriers’ defenders.
There wasn’t a lot of time to make a move on the partial break, and while his original shot was muffled, Hoffman managed to kick the puck forward to himself, then tuck a shot up top shelf, giving him two on the night and Steinbach a 5-0 lead.
Lock down
A pair of penalties put Steinbach down two men for an extended period, but the strong play of Bauer, combined with some gutsy penalty killing, kept it a 5-0 game.
Time ticked away, and Hunter Bauer celebrated his third shutout of the season by tipping the net forward.
For the 19-year-old, he’s now 4-0 and has allowed one goal on a combined 92 shots throughout those contests, while also recording those three shutouts.
Game notes
Steinbach was 1-4 on the power play while going a perfect 5-5 on the penalty kill.
Jack Greenwell is tied for the league lead in goals with 23 and has 7 two-goal games this year.
Steinbach’s penalty kill is number one in the MJHL at 87.8%.
Liam Doyle is second in the MJHL for points by a defender with 28, and Zhenya Miles is third with 26.
Grady Hoffman has 6 points in his last 5 games.
The power play has scored at least a goal in six straight games.
Up next
Steinbach will have a week away from the rink before returning to prepare for a New Year’s Eve game against the Winnipeg Blues.
