Courtesy of TheCarillon.com – auctionplusphoto.com
The Winkler Flyers defeated the Steinbach Pistons 3-1 Tuesday night in Winkler in a showdown between two of the leading teams in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
A win would have pulled the Pistons into a second place tie with the Flyers and to within five points of the leading Portage Terriers. But the Pistons remain comfortably in third place in the loop with a 19-7-2 record, now four points back of the Flyers.
Although the final score was 3-1, which included an empty netter, this game wasn’t settled until the final minutes. Steinbach led much of the game, taking a 1-0 lead late in the first on a Dan Taillefer goal. The Flyers finally tied it early in the third and then Jordan Wall scored what proved to be the winning goal for the Flyes with 8:26 remaining in regulation.
Steinbach outshot Winkler 37-35 as both goaltenders were sharp in this one. Winkler’s Connor Slipp, the leading netminder in the league, made 36 saves while Roman Bengert stopped 32 for the Pistons.
The Pistons now prepare for a busy weekend coming up as they again have three road games in three nights. They will play back-to-back games at Virden Friday and Saturday against the fourth place Oil Capitals (17-9) two tough games that both get underway at 7:30 p.m. The Pistons then head north to Swan River to take on the Swan Valley Stampeders Sunday at 6:00 p.m.