The Steinbach Pistons and Selkirk Steelers met again for the second time in four days, with this matchup featuring more veteran players from both sides looking to crack the roster and solidify their place in the lineup.
When the final buzzer sounded, the result was the same as Monday afternoon as Steinbach skated away with a 4-3 victory Friday night at the TG Smith Centre.
Pistons goalie Danton Belluk played all 60 minutes for Steinbach, and he made 38 saves in the win. Austin Deboer and Riley Morgan split time in the crease for Selkirk, with both combining to stop 34 of 38 shots.
Kyle Bettens got the Pistons on the board first in his first action of the preseason, as the Bemidji State commit buried a rebound in front off a Westin Andres point shot to give Steinbach a 1-0 lead halfway through the first. Big brother Rylan Bettens notched the secondary helper on the play.
Selkirk quickly tied the game a minute later as Ryan Ostermann snapped a shot past the blocker of Belluk to equalize. Brayden Clark gave the Steelers a 2-1 lead as his heavy wrist shot beat the Steinbach netminder to the blocker side.
Kyle Bettens tied the game up halfway through the second period, and he did in almost the same fashion as his first. Off of a Caydin Cleland point shot, he fought to the front of the net and slid the puck past Deboer while his body was parallel to the ice surface, with Cleland and Rylan Bettens picking up the assists.
Lethbridge, Alberta product Zach Trempner gave Steinbach the lead as beat Riley Morgan five-hole 1:48 into the final frame, with Tristan Therrien and Tucker Hodgson adding the helpers.
Selkirk tied the game four minutes later, as Brandon Kipling’s point shot found its way to the back of the net to square things up at 3.
The Pistons killed off a 5-on-3 Steeler power play, and found momentum after that. With two minutes to play Trempner fired a shot that was stopped by Morgan, but the Selkirk goalie got himself twisted up. Wayzata, Minnesota native Joel Matthews pounced on the loose disc and scored with Morgan all crossed up to put Steinbach back on top. Trempner and Therrien had the helpers on the eventual game-winning goal.
The Pistons were outshot 41-38, but thanks to the steady play of Belluk in the final two minutes were able to come away with their second win of the preseason.
UP NEXT: These two teams will go back at it tomorrow night in Selkirk, with more Pistons veterans expected to make their preseason debuts. Game time is set for 7:30 pm, catch the action live on HockeyTV.