It’s a heavy weight matchup tonight as the first place Pistons make the trip to the other side of the river to face the second place Winkler Flyers.
The two teams last met on holiday Monday where the Pistons offense took over resulting in a 7-2 Steinbach win. The Pistons currently lead the season series between these two teams 3-2 with tonight being the 6th and final meeting in the regular season. Steinbach is 2-1 at home versus the Flyers and 1-1 at the Winkler Centennial Arena.
The Pistons appeared to have turned the corner un terms of getting over the injury bug. Knock on wood. Noah Szabo and Parker Jasper are both back in the lineup with Jack Cook nearing his return possibly by game 1 of the playoffs. Steinbach’s first weekend back of having the bulk of their starting defense core back proved to be successful as they only allowed one goal in two games played last weekend. Spencer Penner, Noah Szabo, David Cote, Shane Burns, Parker Jasper , and Liam Doyle all projected to be in the lineup on Wednesday versus the Flyers.
Up front, Sam Noad will be out of the lineup due to illness. Wyatt Mattfield will draw in, in his place. Mattfield is projected to start on the right side on a line with Hunter Degelman and Jamie Fuchs. Cole Plowman will be back between the pipes after missing both weekend games due to illness. Beck Liden was rock solid in both games only allowing 1 goal versus the Nighthawks and recording his first MJHL shutout on Sunday versus the Blues.
Since the loss to the Pistons on February 19th, the Flyers have won their last 3 games, most recently beating the Virden Oil Capitals 4-3 on Friday night.
Lots on the line tonight as the race for first place continues. With a win on Wednesday and Friday, the Pistons would clinch first place in the MJHL. The Flyers will certainly make a push tonight to keep the race going down to the wire.
SPECIAL TEAMS
PISTONS: PP 46/207 – 22.2% PK 227/253 – 90.1%
FLYERS: PP 56/216 – 25.9% PK 215/250 – 86.0%
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Pistons: Leo Chambers
We’re sticking with the captains in today’s players to watch. Two great leaders, both nominees for the MJHL’s MVP. Chambers is an every day player whether it’s practice days or game days. You can always count on getting Leo’s full effort every night. He leads by example and he will lead his team to battle in Winkler on Wednesday. Chambers sits tied for second in assists and third in points in the MJHL behind Trent Penner. Expect Leo to be an impactful player in Wednesday’s matchup.
Flyers: Trent Penner
Trent Penner was named the MJHL’s most valuable player and has proved to be an offensive threat on Winkler’s top line with Dalton Andrew and Brody Beauchemin. The entire trio find themselves in three of the top four spots in the MJHL points race. Expect this trio to be ready to roll in front of a loud home crowd at the Winkler Centennial Arena.
Puck drop at the Winkler Centennial Arena is 7:00pm. Catch the game on Flo Hockey or listen to voice of the Pistons Dave Anthony over at DAbroadcasting.mixlr.com.
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