Jackson Kostiuk and Rory Gilmour scored the goals for the Steinbach Pistons as they were handed a 6-2 loss by the Virden Oil Capitals in Game 4 tonight at Tundra Oil & Gas Place, putting the Pistons on the brink of elimination with Virden now holding a 3-1 series lead in the Turnbull Cup semifinals.
Steinbach has struggled with its starts in the semifinals. Although they were able to score the first two goals and maintain a lead after 20 minutes in Game 3, the Pistons surrendered the opening goal just 1:16 into tonight’s contest when Nathan Schaefer beat Pistons netminder Easton Thvedt for his second of the playoffs on an early power play.
Virden carried its one-goal lead into the first intermission before adding three more in the middle frame.
Brooks Siemens doubled the lead at 6:08 with his second of the playoffs, Jett Deschamps made it 3-0 just over a minute later with his first, and Liam Goertzen capped off the Oil Capitals’ three-goal period at 16:29 on the power play when he beat Thvedt with his fourth of the postseason.
The Oil Capitals stretched the lead to five near the midway point of the third period on London Hoilett’s fifth of the playoffs, but Steinbach finally broke Braxton Burdeny’s shutout bid on the power play at 12:28, courtesy of Kostiuk’s team-leading eighth goal of the postseason.
Virden restored its five-goal lead shortly after on the man advantage, as Colten Worthington scored his third of the playoffs at 14:54.
Gilmour added the Pistons’ second goal of the evening at 16:06, his second of the playoffs, to cut the deficit to four.
It’s now do-or-die for Steinbach after tonight’s loss, as they trail the series 3-1. Thvedt, who faced 41 shots, turned aside 35 of them in his second straight start on back-to-back nights.
“He was the lone bright spot of the team today. He was outstanding in the first period for us and gave us an opportunity to get back into the hockey game,” Pistons head coach Paul Dyck said when asked by Dave Anthony about Thvedt’s performance. “… good on him for competing the way he did.”
Half of Virden’s goals came on the power play, as the Oil Capitals went three-for-six with the man advantage. Steinbach, much like in Games 1 and 2 of this series, continued to take untimely penalties that proved costly on the scoreboard. The Pistons went one-for-four on the power play.
Steinbach’s Game 3 victory ensured the series would return to the Southeast Event Centre for Game 5 on Friday night.
“… it’s going to take a really good effort on Friday. We’re going to have to play like a team, and we’re going to have to defend,” Dyck said when speaking to Anthony. “If we do that, we can get ourselves back into the series, but Friday is a must-have for us.”
Puck drop for Game 5 is set for 7:00 p.m. CT. The game can be watched on FloHockey.
Article Written by Evan Waldner – Picture Courtesy of Katie Haasbeek Photography
