The Steinbach Pistons finished the MJHL showcase with 1 win and 1 loss. The Pistons dropped the first game Tuesday afternoon by a score of 6-2 versus the Dauphin Kings and won the second game 3-2 against the Waywayseecapo Wolverines.
Steinbach Pistons vs Dauphin Kings
The Dauphin Kings opened the scoring in the first period just 37 seconds in as Kaden Bryant scored from Parker Fofonoff. The Kings added to their lead at the 4:20 mark as Nick Braun got the puck past Pistons’ goaltender Simon Harkness with the assists coming from Brayden Dube and Kaden Bryant.
The Pistons cut the lead in half as Dawson Milliken scored a beautiful goal off a one timer slap shot from the left faceoff dot. The assists on Milliken’s goal came from Eduard Wruck and Davis Fry.
Just over 2 minutes later Kaden Bryant got his second goal of the game and restored the two-goal lead.
The Pistons didn’t let that two-goal lead stand for long as Davin Griffin brought the game back to within 1 with Langley Kruggel getting the assist.
After the first period the score was 3-2 for the Kings with the shot totals 9-8 in favour of the Kings.
The game got a little bit away from the Pistons in the second period as the Kings would go on to make the game 5-2 with goals coming from Nick Braun and Brayden Dube. Going into the second intermission the shot totals was 24-11 for the Kings.
The Dauphin Kings got one last goal in the third period as Kayden Bryant completed the hattrick and made the game 6-2 which ended up being the final score.
Steinbach Pistons vs Waywayseecapo Wolverines
The Wolverines opened the scoring in the game as Mi-Kwan Tallman scored 3 minutes into the game with the assists from Luke Robson and Boone Mathison.
The Pistons tied it up just under halfway through the first period as Cooper Rice scored from Jack Rogers and Davin Griffin. Heading into the first intermission the Pistons were tied with the Wolverines 1-1 with the shot totals 13-7 for the Wolverines.
The second period was good back and forth hockey but neither team could get the puck in the net until the final 3 minutes of the period.
Spencer Paplawski scored for the Wolverines to go up 2-1 with the brother connection as Adam Paplawski got the assist.
Jack Rogers tied the game back up at 2-2 a minute later with Davin Griffin and Cooper Rice getting the assists. After two periods of play the game was tied 2-2 with the Wolverines outshooting the Pistons 19-18.
The third period pretty much mirrored the second period with goals not happening until the end of the period.
Travis Hensrud got the game winner on the powerplay with just over 2 minutes left in the period with Jack Rogers and Zac Patrick getting the assists.
“We learned the importance of managing the puck, that every shift matters and the value in playing as a team” Head Coach and GM Paul Dyck commented on what the team took out of the showcase. “It was good to play 2 of the top teams in the league and see the deficiencies in our game that we can work on.”