Troy Martyniuk made 35 saves in goal, as the Winkler Flyers beat the Steinbach Pistons 6-3 Friday night at the Winkler Rec Complex.
Pistons captain Braden Purtill described Martyniuk as the best goalie in the MJHL after these two teams met this past Tuesday, and he was solid in goal again to help bring the Flyers into 1st place in the MJHL standings. Matt Radomsky stopped 24 of 30 Flyer shots in defeat.
The Pistons got on the board late in the first on the powerplay, when Darby Gula wristed a shot from the top of the blue line past the Flyer netminder to give Steinbach a 1-0 lead late in the first. However, their only lead of the game lasted as Curtis Ireland was stripped of the puck behind the goal, and the centering pass came to Coltyn Bates. He wired home his 11th of the year to tie the game.
There was a scary moment to begin the second period. Flyers defenceman Mitch Dyck came across the ice and levelled Pistons forward Drew Worrad from the blind-side. Dyck was assessed a 5 minute major penalty for the hit, and was kicked out of the game. Worrad was down momentarily, but skated off on his own power and did not miss a shift. But the Pistons could not take advantage of the opportunity, as Cole Kirkup scored a shorthanded goal to give the Flyers a lead they would never relinquish. Nolan McGuire and Brady Pupp added powerplay goals in the second to give Winkler a 4-1 advantage after 40 minutes of play.
Matt Christian tallied his 13th of the season for the Flyers’ fifth goal, and Michael Redmon notched his first of the season to conclude the scoring for Winkler. Austin Heidemann and Tyson McConnell both netted their 10th goals of the year to reply for the Pistons.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Both teams went 2 for 6 on the powerplay.
SCHOONBAERT HELD SILENT
For only the third time this season, MJHL leading scorer Bradley Schoonbaert was held pointless. This is the first time he has been held without a marker in back-to-back games this season.
UP NEXT: The Pistons travel to Portage on Sunday to take on the Terriers at Stride Place. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 pm.