The Steinbach Pistons beat the Dauphin Kings by a score of 5-1 Friday evening in game 1 of the MJHL Finals against the Dauphin Kings.
The Pistons opened the scoring at the 9:18 mark of the first period. Ty Paisley entered the offensive zone and made a beautiful move to get around the Dauphin defender and then put it high glove side making the game 1-0.
Jack Rogers extended the lead to 2-0 almost 5 minutes later. Cooper Rice came down the left side boards as he put a shot on net that Rogers redirected past Carson Cherepak.
Steinbach went into the first intermission up 2-0 with the shot totals tied at 11.
As the game went on the game got a little more chippy. More checks being finished, post whistle scrums and the odd slash to the shin. Mathew Rathbone of the Dauphin Kings was assessed a 2-minute minor and a 10-minute misconduct for a hit to the head giving the Pistons a good powerplay opportunity, but they failed to capitalize.
Dawson Cherepak made a jaw dropping save in the latter half of the second period as he completely robbed Quinton Pepper on what seemed like a for sure goal.
Davis Fry made the game 3-0 with just under 3-minutes left in the second period. Fry got a loose puck in the high slot and made no mistake ripping it home past Cherepak.
Dauphin made sure to not go into the final frame without a goal as Kaden Bryant squeaked one through Simon Harkness with just over 30 seconds left in the period, making it 3-1.
Steinbach was up 3-1 after two periods of play with the shot totals 25-23 for Dauphin.
Quinton Pepper scored at the 5:39 mark of the third period. With a scramble in front of the net, the puck trickled behind the net and Pepper picked it up and wrapped around, getting it past Cherepak making it 4-1.
The Pistons top line of Birnie, Power and Pepper made sure to get a goal with all of them involved as Pepper got his second of the game just over halfway through the final frame. Birnie made a gorgeous cross crease saucer pass to Pepper who put it in the net making it 5-1. Zach Power got the secondary assist on the play.
Simon Harkness stood tall all game, stopping 34/35 shots and looking really comfortable in net. His rebound control was great and overall managed the crease great.
Steinbach went on to secure the 5-1 game 1 win over the Dauphin Kings.