Coming off the Christmas break, it took the Steinbach Pistons a little time to get rolling, but when they did, they overwhelmed the Winnipeg Blues with wave after wave of attack, eventually claiming a 6-3 win in their final game of the year 2025.
First period
It was a needed break for many of the players, but early in the game, there was a sense of rust as the Pistons eased their way into things, allowing an odd-man rush that gave the Blues a 1-0 lead.
Logan Mehl (6) would pull the game back to even just 18 seconds later, as the big rookie crashed toward the net and tapped home a Cullen Ingebritson pass to even the game 1-1.
Rory Gilmour picked up the secondary assist, starting what would be a career night for the 19-year-old defender.
After contributing to the first goal, Gilmour would factor in again, as he notched his second point of the night on the Ryan McDonald (10) goal that gave Steinbach a 2-1 lead. Liam Doyle also collected an assist.
Winning refused to go away, crashing the Steinbach net and coming up with the 2-2 marker.
That’s how the game would stay through the rest of the period, with Steinbach owning a 20-7 shot advantage after 20 minutes.
Second period
Slowly but surely, the Pistons worked their way back into what has become their standard of play.
As the game moved into the second half of the period, the line of Sam Noad, Jack Greenwell, and Marek Miller went to work and gave the paying fans their money’s worth.
It all started in the defensive zone as the Pistons smoothly moved the puck up the ice. Miller drove into the zone along with Greenwell and Noad. Miller fed the puck over to Greenwell, who then dished it back to Noad, who finished off the tic-tac-toe passing play, restoring Steinbach’s lead 3-2, as the captain celebrated his 6th of the season.
Later in the period, Steinbach continued to pressure, and a hard shot looked like it rattled the Blues’ netminder, who was seen trying to shake off some sort of lower-body ailment.
He was able to stay in the game and finished the period, which ended with Steinbach up 3-2.
Third period
In the first few minutes of the final frame, the Blues’ goalie seemed to continue to be in some discomfort, but with just over three minutes played, he went down for a save but was unable to get back up, heavily favouring his leg, unable to put any weight on it.
He was removed from the game, and the backup for the evening assumed the net.
The holiday season was clearly in the review of the Pistons, who were not feeling very generous, and welcomed the new goalie by torching him with a couple of beautiful goals in the span of just a few minutes.
First, it was Gilmour who showcased his elite shot yet again, walking right down Main Street and uncorking a beauty, wiring home his eighth of the year from McDonald, making it a 4-2 game.
William Picklyk got into the scoring act, as the 16-year-old sensation took a pass from behind the net courtesy of Ingebritson, and cashed in for his 9th of the year, bringing the score to 5-2. Mehl notched his second point of the game with the secondary assist.
Eric Han had a chance to extend the lead further, as the 18-year-old super-pest outworked the Winnipeg power play unit, earning a breakaway shorthanded. Because he was hooked on the play, he was awarded a penalty shot, but couldn’t convert on the opportunity, keeping the score where it was.
Another power play for Winnipeg allowed them to get one back, but the Pistons quickly responded, and once again, it was Picklyk displaying a cannon of a shot combined with bullseye precision, capping off the scoring, 6-3 for the home side.
The lone assist on the final goal went to Gilmour, who finished off the night with a career high 4 points in a single game.
“I had a good game, but it was a total team effort,” Gilmour said with a smile after the game.
Special moment
With a minute and a half left in the game, Steinbach made a goalie change, not because of injury or anything, but as a special moment for the local boy Jaxson Loewen.
Loewen, who has been filling in as an emergency backup and ‘AP’ goalie for weeks since both Steinbach’s goalies have been on the shelf, got into his first MJHL game and managed to make 2 saves.
“We wanted to get him into a game as kind of a ‘thank you,'” Head Coach Paul Dyck said after the game. “He’s been such a trooper for us. We’ve been shorthanded in net for about a month, and he’s taken off work to come to practice, travelled with us, and he’s been a great guy in the room. It was a little reward for someone from Steinbach, he’s from a great family, and we wanted them to have a moment.”
Time ran out, and Steinbach extended their recent winning streak to five games.
Hunter Bauer notched the win, his 5th in as many starts, making 27 saves on the night.
Steinbach’s power play was 0-4, while the penalty kill was 4-5.
Game notes
Eric Han, Ryan McDonald, Cullen Ingebritson, William Picklyk, Cole Cairns, and Logan Mehl, got a special mention post-game from the coach, who loved their game and heaped praise on them, believing they had a huge part in not only getting the team going on the scoreboard, but getting the team going overall.
Gilmour has a three-game point streak, scoring 6 points in that span.
Picklyk has scored 6 goals in his last 5 games.
McDonald has scored 3 goals in his last 5 games.
Mehl has 4 points in his last 5 games.
Jack Greenwell extended his point streak to 5 games.
Sam Noad has 6 points in his last 6 games.
Up Next
A massive tilt is lined up for Saturday night in Niverville, as the top two teams in the MJHL are set to write another chapter in their growing rivalry, with the Nighthawks hosting the Pistons at the CRRC for the final time this regular season.
Article Courtesy of Steinbachonline.com – Picture Courtesy of Patrick Friesen
