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Brayden Berg battles with Portage off a face off (Photo credit: Portage Terriers)

Late Period Goals Prove Costly For Steinbach In Loss To Portage

Content Provided By: Steinbach Online

 

 

The Steinbach Pistons gave up goals in the final minute of both the first and second periods before mounting an attempted comeback that fell just short, eventually losing to the Portage Terriers 5-3 on Friday night.

After battling the injury bug for almost the whole season, the Pistons were as close to a full lineup as they have been in months.

Ty Paisley, missing since mid-December was back in along with Ryan McDonald, Noah Szabo and Brayden Berg, all of which missed various amounts of time.

In the first, things started a little slowly. Both teams went through the motions but as the period went along, Steinbach looked to start to find their groove and worked for a number of chances.

Things looked like they would quietly go into intermission until the Terriers bullied their way into the offensive zone and with a forward driving the net, a centered pass went off a body and in, putting the home side up 1-0.

The only goal of the period came with under a minute to go in the frame.

In the second, the Terriers lead would grow, scoring just over five minutes into the period.

A terrific response shift led by Paisley helped get the Pistons on the board and back into the game.

The 20-year-old forward got the play started as he helped break up a Terrier rush, then filtered a pass to Brayden Barnett. Barnett and Brett Kaiser tore off on a two-on-one break. Barnett held the puck and with his long reach, worked the puck around the diving Portage defender, hitting Kaiser with the pass who hammered home his 15th of the year.

Once again, it looked as though things would be status quo heading into the intermission but for a second straight period, the Portage counter attack managed to score, making it a 3-1 game after 40 minutes.

In the third, the Terriers added another one to make it 4-1.

The Pistons once again responded when Sam Zagari chipped a puck to Reece Gault who rushed into the Portage zone. While Gault was stopped, Grady Hoffman was there to bang home the rebound, cutting the game to 4-2. For Hoffman, it was his 13th of the season.

A lucky bounce in the offensive zone produced another Pistons goal as a puck clanked off the boards behind the net and went right out in front to Ryan McDonald who potted his 8th of the season.

After the goal, McDonald’s celebration made a couple of Terriers upset so they went after the forward. Cole Cairns along with the others on the ice came to the defense of McDonald who expressed after the game his appreciation for Cairns efforts.

Steinbach pushed but with the goalie out, the Terriers hit the empty net and sealed the game 5-3.

Christian Green was hit with the loss, but he was crucial in keeping the game within reach as Portage pushed several times throughout the game but Green refused to let the Terriers run away with the game, giving his team a chance to make a game of it.

Had the power play been able to get anything going, it might have been a different game, but going 0-6 hurt while going 2-2 on the penalty kill kept the game close.

The two teams will meet again on Sunday in La Broquerie at 7:00. It’s the fourth time the two teams will meet so far this year with Portage having won the first three.