Brendan Martin scored the game winning goal 48 seconds into overtime as the Pistons came back to beat the Virden Oil Capitals 4-3 in a heated contest Friday night at the TG Smith Centre.
Matt Radomsky picked up the win with a 28 save performance, while Virden goaltender Dalton Dosch stopped 30 of 34 shots in the loss.
The Pistons outshot the Oil Caps 14-9 in the opening period, but it was Virden getting on the board first as Tanner McKechnie buried his 8thof the season at the 11:37 mark from Mccullough Park.
Virden jumped all over the Pistons in the second period, and went up 2-0 thanks to Tristen Cross’s 12th goal of the season from Josh Belcher and Tristan Thompson 3:40 into the middle frame.
Steinbach found a spark thanks to a spirited tilt between Caleb Paisley and Virden defender Brock Shwaluk late in the second, and came out ready to play in the third. The Pistons pulled within one as Troy Williams threw a point shot from the blue line through traffic and into the back of the net. Max Neill picked up the assist on Williams’ 8th goal on the campaign.
The TG Smith Centre crowd was brought to its feet thanks to the biggest hit of the season, as rookie Caydin Cleland came across and levelled Virden captain Ben Dalke with a huge hit. Kolten Kanaski and Cleland then dropped the gloves, and Kanaski picked up the instigator penalty which put Steinbach on the power play.
The Pistons equalized as Boedey Vaeth threw a pass to the high slot, and Martin tipped it in past Dosch 52 seconds after the Williams goal. Nico Labossiere picked up the extra apple on Martin’s first of the evening.
Then over a minute later, controversy struck the TG Smith Centre. Virden forward Jack Einarson came around the Steinbach goal and fired a shot off of Radomsky’s arm. The puck trickled towards the line as Radomsky did everything he could to keep the disc out. The referee called it a good goal, and the Oil Caps took the lead 3-2.
All that did was spur on Steinbach even more, as Jack Kilroy tipped home a Williams point shot with five minutes left to once again tie the game at 3. Doug Johnson picked up the other assist on Kilroy’s 5th of the season.
In overtime, Martin fed Riley Vautour out in front and Vautour was robbed by Dosch. The rebound went right to the Pistons’ leading scorer, who gloved down the puck and put home his 30th goal of the season to win it for Steinbach.
The win splits the season series between these two teams, and also extends the Pistons’ win streak to five games.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Pistons went 1 for 4 on the PP, and killed off all six Virden man advantages.
UP NEXT: Steinbach heads to Neepawa for a date with the Natives at 7:30 pm. Catch the action live on HockeyTV.