Content Provided By: Steinbach Online
It took some late game heroics from the hottest duo in the MJHL but thanks to three late third period goals, the Steinbach Pistons continued their most recent winning streak, defeating the Virden Oil Capitals 4-1 on Saturday night.
Not overly happy with their defensive performance from the night before, Steinbach wanted to be more assertive, more structured and better at moving pucks up ice.
For the most part, they were able to do that.
It was not an overly entertaining first few minutes of the game. The Oil Caps created a little buzz as they managed to hit the post once and also hit the cross bar, keeping things locked at 0-0.
That score would hold until just past the midway point of the first.
A clean faceoff win by Sam Noad put the puck on the stick of defender Matt Munro, who put a hard shot on goal. While Munro’s chance was stopped, the rebound ended up right in the crease with Steinbach’s Brayden Berg and Jamie Fuchs right there to battle for it. Eventually, Fuchs knocked it home for his 20th of the year, putting Steinbach up 1-0.
For Fuchs, it’s the second consecutive season he hit the 20-goal plateau, leaving him one short of his career high of 21 set last year for Steinbach. The milestone marker was assisted by Berg and Munro.
In the second, the Pistons got caught puck watching in their own zone, leaving a dangerous Virden sniper all alone in the slot and as a loose puck made it’s way to him, he made no mistake scoring to tie the game 1-1.
Throughout the rest of the second, Steinbach looked sluggish and struggled to get much of anything going offensively.
In the third, that changed completely.
From the drop of the puck, Steinbach was a different team. They were skating, passing with purpose, playing physical and looked every bit like a dominant, championship contending club.
Several times in the third, Steinbach outworked and out competed the Oil Caps, putting pucks toward the goal but every time, shots were stopped or blocked or just out of reach from being dangerous, resulting in the score holding at 1-1.
With time ticking down, Steinbach kept working in the offensive zone. An Oil Caps clearing attempt was stopped by a pinching Reece Gault, who walked in and hit Grady Hoffman with a pass down low. Hoffman’s shot was stopped but Connor Paronuzzi was in the right place at the perfect time with a loose puck finding his stick and he tucked home his 27th to put Steinbach ahead 2-1.
For Paronuzzi, it’s his 14th straight game with a point, while Hoffman extended his point streak to 6 games.
Virden rolled the dice and pulled the goalie but an excellent defensive play by Brayden Barnett led to him scoring an empty netter, his 10th of the year, putting Steinbach on top 3-1.
Not done yet, Fuchs helped set up the final goal as the 20-year-old power forward used his size and speed to create some space before hitting Brayden Berg with a pass and it was Berg who buried his 18th of the season to make it 4-1.
Steinbach outscored Virden 3-0 in the third while outshooting them 20-2 in the final frame.
Christian Green notched his 7th straight win making 20 saves.
The power play failed to get anything going despite five chances while the penalty kill was a perfect 6-6.
Steinbach will have a few days off, they’ll next see action Friday night when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Freeze.