The Steinbach Pistons scored five unanswered goals in the second and third periods to defeat the Dauphin Kings 6-1 Saturday night at Credit Union Place.
With tonight’s win the Pistons have now won five consecutive games while the regulation loss end’s Dauphin’s streak of nine straight contests picking up at least a point. Matt Lenz was steady in the Pistons goal with 19 saves and nets his 12th win of the season. Kings starter Zach Grouette was peppered with 50 shots on goal and stopped 44 of them.
Steinbach got on the board first just after their first power play of the game expired as Kyle Bettens threaded the needle from the left wing side, and found Zach Purcell for a tap-in goal five minutes into the game. Caydin Cleland picked up the bonus helper on Purcell’s 5th of the season.
The Pistons had some penalty problems in the first half of the opening period, taking three minors in the first 11 minutes. Dauphin would capitalize on the last of those three as Grady Hobbs wired a shot off the post and in to tie the game up at the 11:04 mark.
Steinbach would begin to take control in the middle frame as play tilted down towards the Dauphin end of the ice. The Pistons outshot the Kings 19-5 in the second, and it took almost all 19 of them before they found the back of the net on a man advantage.
Bryce Young threw a shot on goal from the left wing that was deflected in by Rylan Bettens to make it 2-1 Pistons with 2:08 remaining in period 2. Carter Loney had the secondary assist on Bettens’ 6th goal of the season.
The final frame was once again all Pistons and they doubled their lead 20 seconds in. Carter Loney jammed home a rebound off of a Ty Naaykens shot to give Steinbach a 3-1 lead.
Steinbach kept pouring it on as Codey Behun worked his way in from centre ice all the way into the slot and beat Grouette for his 9th of the season at the 5:26 mark for a 4-1 Pistons lead.
Evan Kaufman would score 54 seconds after Behun’s goal as he beat a screened Grouette from the left point to make it 5-1. Jackson Kobelka and Max Neill would pick up the assists on Kaufman’s 2nd of the season.
Steinbach would cap off their scoring on the power play as Young fed Loney backdoor, and the Minnesota-Duluth commit snuck the puck short side past Grouette for a 6-1 lead with 9 minutes to play. Caydin Cleland would pick up his second assist of the game as well on Loney’s 8th goal on the year.
The game would go by without much to note. That was good news for the road Pistons, who now travel back to Steinbach with a 13-2-2 record.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Pistons went 2 for 5 on the power play while the Kings went 1 for 5.
UP NEXT: Steinbach will start a four game homestand on Monday afternoon when they take on the Winkler Flyers for a special Remembrance Day matchup. Puck drop is scheduled for 2:30 pm, catch that game live on HockeyTV.