Courtesy of Steinbachonline.com – Written by Dave Anthony
Julien Koga had 3 points while Will Koop chipped in with 2 goals as the Steinbach Pistons wrapped up the pre-season with a 5-2 win over the Selkirk Steelers at the T.G. Smith Centre Saturday night.
The Pistons went with a lineup closely resembling the lineup fans will see on opening night, and the veteran presence got Steinbach on the board first. After Koga had rushed towards the front of the net, Landon Plett was on the doorstep to tap home the loose puck making it 1-0 Steinbach. Selkirk would answer back on the power play and the first period ended in a 1-1 draw despite the shots being 19-4 for Steinbach.
In the second period, Steinbach began to take over offensively. Ryan Carlson scored less than a minute into the period making it 2-1 Steinbach with assists going to Jordan Bochinski and Koga.
Will Koop was the recipient of a picture perfect pass from Mack Graham later in the period as he had a tap in making it 3-1. As one person said after the game, “Graham had no room to make that pass. No room. I don’t know how he did it.”
Bradley Schoonbaert also picked up an assist on the goal. Koga would get rewarded with a goal on the power play just 90 seconds later from Declan Graham and Troy Williams. Koop would pick up his second of the game on a two-man advantage also assisted by Declan Graham and Williams.
When the horn sounded, the Pistons had a 5-1 stranglehold.
There would be no comeback two nights in a row for the Steelers. Selkirk scored on the power play to cut the lead to 5-2, but that’s as close as they would get.
Roman Bengert played all 60 minutes and finished the night with 17 saves. The power play went 2 for 6, and the penalty kill went 2 for 4. Shots heavily favoured Steinbach 56-19.
It was the last game before the start of the regular season for both clubs. Steinbach will host Waywayseecappo on Friday night at home with the puck drop at 7:30. The Pistons first road game will be in Selkirk on Sunday, September 25th.