After an upsetting Game One loss on Friday, the Steinbach Pistons hit the road into enemy territory looking to tie the series one game apiece in Portage against the Terriers at Stride Place on Sunday in Game Two of the Turnbull Cup quarterfinals.
It wasn’t an ideal start for the visitors, as it took only 35 seconds for Drayden Uhrina to open the scoring for the Terriers with his second goal in as many games. Rhett Platt found the 17-year-old wide open in the slot, and he beat Chris Quizi to open the scoring.
Portage held the one-goal lead until around the midway mark of the game when Steinbach exploded for three goals in 3:01.
Liam Doyle netted his first of the postseason at 10:04 of the second period to tie things up when he cut to the net while protecting the puck from a Terrier and went from forehand to backhand to slip the puck along the ice past Logan Cunningham.
Steinbach went to the power play shortly after, and its regular-season points leader Jack Greenwell made no mistake, burying his first of the playoffs to give the visitors their first lead of the game. There was a mad scramble in front of Portage’s crease, and Greenwell jammed home the rebound amidst the chaos at 11:42 of the second.
Kostiuk broke out on a 2-on-1 with Brett Kaiser. Kaiser slid a pass to him, and he one-timed his second of the postseason past Cunningham to shock the home club with Steinbach’s third goal in just over three minutes at 13:05.
But Kostiuk wasn’t finished there.
The St. Paul, Manitoba native found the back of the net once again 8:36 into the final frame to give his squad a three-goal cushion, beating Cunningham with a wrist shot from the middle of the ice.
Portage cut the lead in half with 4:25 left to play on the power play with a deflection in front of Quizi by Adam Belzil, his first of the playoffs, but Steinbach still managed to close things out, earning a much-needed series-tying win heading back home.
Quizi was rock solid between the pipes for the Pistons, turning aside 37 of the 39 shots that came his way. Kostiuk and Kaiser stood out offensively, with Kostiuk recording two goals and Kaiser three assists, two of those coming on Kostiuk’s tallies.
With the win, Steinbach has now made it a best-of-five heading back home. Game Three is set for 7:00 p.m. CT at Southeast Event Centre on Tuesday, where they’ll look to take a 2-1 series lead. You can stream the game on FloHockey.
Article Written by Evan Waldner – Picture taken by Kalee Haasbeek Photography
