Content Provided By: Steinbach Online
Heading into the contest on Saturday night, the Steinbach Pistons went into Waywayseecappo with 8 regular forwards, a prospect called up from AAA and a defender turned winger for the night, and managed to come out with a gutsy 5-2 win thanks to the buy in of everyone, especially the 6 defenders in the lineup.
Steinbach was without Noah Szabo, Cole Carins, Sam Noad, Gavin Holod, Brett Kaiser, Brayden Berg, and Ty Paisley, all of whom are out with various ailments, plus still missing Reece Gault and Jackson Kostiuk, who are at the World Jr. A Challenge, set to play in the bronze medal game on Sunday, 2:00 pm (the game will be broadcast on TSN).
Despite being shorthanded, the group went into battle committed to doing what needed to be done.
“Let’s be boring” was the message. Simple hockey. Clear pucks from the zone, don’t get running around in front of their own net, give goalie Christian Green a chance to see shots, capitalize on chances for and stay out of the penalty box.
Overall, the Pistons managed to do most of that, minus the penalty box part.
The opening 20 minutes were exactly what the Pistons wanted. Very low event hockey.
Waywayseecappo came out strong in the opening minutes but the Steinbach defensive scheme held strong and slowly but surely, the Pistons pushed back.
While there were no goals in the first, shots slightly favored the home side, 7-5 Wolverines.
In the second, Christian Green was put to the test as the Wolverines stormed the zone and made things frantic around the Pistons net. The 20-year-old refused to break, making several spectacular saves that made the Waywayseecappo players look skyward, dumbfounded that they couldn’t find the back of the net.
All the work put in by Green paid off later.
A faceoff in the Waywayseecappo zone was cleanly won by Luc DeGagne. He snapped it back to Luke Bogart and the 18-year-old leaned into a shot from the point that found it’s way through a maze of bodies and in for his 3rd of the season.
Just after the midway point of the second, Zhenya Miles hit Connor Paronuzzi with a stretch pass and the 19-year-old sniper walked into the o-zone and sent a beautiful wrister top shelf for his 12th of the season and 3rd in as many games. Shane Burns also picked up the secondary assist on the 2-0 goal.
Not done yet, Aaron Krestanowich picked up his first goal as a member of the Steinbach Pistons, putting a wrister on goal from the blueline that pinballed off of bodies and sticks in front, eventually finding it’s way into the net to make it 3-0. Grady Hoffman and Paronuzzi were given the assists.
For Paronuzzi, it was another multi-point effort. He’s on a 5 game point streak and in 4 of those games, he has at least 2 points. With the latest stretch, 13 points in his last 5 games, the Ontario product has moved into top spot in the MJHL scoring race with 40 points.
Things were positive heading into the third but the first three minutes of the final period changed the tone of the game dramatically.
Waywayseecappo managed to cut into the lead with a pair of goals in the first three minutes of the final period of regulation.
Now that the game was 3-2, Steinbach was able to clamp back down and keep the Wolverines to the outside and when they did get something toward the net, Christian Green was there to make the save.
The stay out of the penalty box instructions didn’t come through as Steinbach was sent to the box 5 times, including once after the Wolverines cut the game to a one goal contest.
The penalty killers stood tall and got the job done, keeping the Wolverines man advantage from getting anything substantial and keeping the team up by a goal.
Mathis Laplante would give the visitors some breathing room after taking their breath away with an electric goal.
It all started near the Pistons blueline when Cale Quamme and Eric Cote combined to stop an incoming Wolverines rush. Cote picked up the puck and instead of just shooting a puck away, he showed excellent poise and patience waiting, taking a couple of strides then hitting Laplante with a pass in the neutral zone.
“Le Bon Garcon” did the rest from there.
The 18-year-old showstopper blazed a trail into the offensive zone, his size and speed giving him space to cut into the middle, he then walked through a Waywayseecappo defender before roofing a shot over the outstretched poke check of the goalie, giving his team a 4-2 lead.
Laplante has also been on a tear lately. He’s now up to 13 goals on the year. He’s on a 5 game point streak and has goals in 4 of his last 5 games.
Another penalty late in the period gave the Wolverines a chance to get back into the game. Once again, the PK units were up to the task, killing off the first part of the power play before Ryan McDonald put the game away, sealing the contest with a shorthanded empty net goal, his 6th of the season.
For Steinbach, they executed the game plan drawn up by the coaches, Christian Green made the big saves when called on, reliable scorers came to play and points from the backend were critical with 5 bluelines chipping in with points, all leading to a gutsy victory.
While not factoring into the scoring, Spencer Penner was rock solid again, leading the team with strong defensive play. Jamie Fuchs and Brayden Barnett were forces in all three zones while Blake Farthing, the Interlake Lightning forward called up for the game didn’t look out of place. Brody Green was a threat on the power play and even backup Zach Burleigh was involved, cheering on his teammates as they went to work shift after shift.
Steinbach’s power play only got to go out twice, once in the first and once very late in the third with the game already decided, finishing 0-2. Then penalty kill was tested more and went a strong 4-5.
Christian Green finished with 23 saves, notching his 17th win of the season.
Steinbach will be back in action on Tuesday when they visit the Selkirk Steelers. One more game after that before the much needed holiday break, will be against the Winkler Flyers.