Alexander Uryga had a goal and two assists, and MJHL MVP Josh Tripp scored twice as the Swan Valley Stampeders have the Steinbach Pistons on the brink of elimination with a 6-3 win at the TG Smith Thursday night.
Swan Valley now has a 3-1 series lead heading back to Swan River for Game #5 on Saturday night.
Matt Radomsky did all he could do in this one, but was tagged with the loss as he made 42 saves on the night. Stampeder goalie Merek Pipes stopped 27 of 30 Steinbach shots in the loss.
Much like last night’s game, the Stampeders came out a confident group as they outshot the Pistons 21-10 in the first period. Radomsky would have one of his best periods of the playoffs as he kept all but one out of his net. That came at the midway point of the first period, as Bradly Goethals scored his sixth goal of the playoffs on a nifty backhander to give Swan Valley the lead.
Uryga made it 2-0 on a power move to the net, and tucked it past the far pad of Radomsky 1:54 into the second period. The Pistons responded as Declan Graham threw a puck at the net, and Jack Kilroy deflected the puck past Pipes to cut the lead in half to 2-1. Brendan Martin picked up the extra assist on Kilroy’s second goal of the postseason.
Steinbach was gaining some momentum, but took a penalty that the Stampeders capitalized on. A nice passing play saw Uryga find Goethals, and Goethals found Tripp back door which he put home for a 3-1 Stampeders lead.
The Pistons had two 2-on-1 rushes that they didn’t score on, and Swan added one late in the second period to deflate the crowd as Tucker Scantlebury came out in front and backhanded one past Radomsky for a 4-1 lead with 1:39 to go.
Also like last night’s game, Steinbach responded in the opening seconds of the final frame as Declan Graham threw a shot from the point that beat Pipes clean for his first of the playoffs in his second game back to make it 4-2. Tyson McConnell and Tanner Mole had the helpers on the power play goal by Graham.
But the Stampeders put this one out of reach with two goals in 44 seconds as Tripp made it 5-2 on the power play at the 9:53 mark of the third period, and then Matt Osadick notched his fifth of the postseason at 10:37 to make it 6-2.
Kyle Bettens added a late power play marker for Steinbach, as he finished off a nice passing play with 53 seconds to play. McConnell and Easton Bennett drew the assist on Bettens’ 3rdgoal of the postseason.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Pistons went 2 for 6 on the power play, but gave up three power play goals as Swan finished 3 for 6.
UP NEXT: The Pistons will play in the first elimination game of these 2019 MJHL Playoffs, as Game #5 will be on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. Catch that game on MIX 96, Steinbachonline.com, and HockeyTV. If necessary, Game #6 will be back at the TG Smith Centre on Monday night at 7:30 pm.