Courtesy of Steinbachonline.com
After a rocky first period, the Steinbach Pistons couldn’t get even with the Winkler Flyers falling 3-2 in Game 2 of the best-of-seven MJHL semi-final Saturday night.
The Pistons struggled in the opening 20 minutes of play. They were out-shot 17-9 and trailed 2-0. Pistons goalie Roman Bengert made several key saves in the period to keep his team in it, but penalty trouble stalled any momentum that Steinbach seemed to build.
In the second period, Steinbach decided to crank up the physical play. Connor Martin crushed a Winkler Flyer with a beautiful open ice check which moments later prompted a Flyers player to come after Martin. Martin stood his ground and the Flyers received the penalty. It appeared to be the momentum swing the Pistons needed, but just over a minute later Tyler Penner was called for a very questionable hit to the head and not only negated the power play but was also assessed a 10-minute misconduct.
The Pistons finally got on the board at the midway point of the period. After Quintin Lisoway won the faceoff, the puck ended up on the stick of Ryan Carlson who wristed it towards the net. After hitting a body in front, Lisoway received the gift of a wide open net and the sniper made no mistake, cutting the lead in half. The period would end 2-1.
In the third, the physical play continued for both sides and Winkler ended up converting on a two on one making it 3-1 midway through the third. The Pistons never gave up, and with just over a minute to go Denis Bosc tipped home a perfect point shot from Lisoway to make it 3-2. Dan Taillefer also picked up an assist on the play. Steinbach would not get another goal as the horn sounded to seal the loss.
Down 2-0 in the series, the Pistons head back home to the T.G. Smith Centre on Tuesday night. There were positives to take away from game two but the Pistons have yet to play up to their capabilities. Game 3 puck drop is set for 7:30PM. Catch the game on AM1250 Radio and streaming on SteinbachOnline.com with the pre-game show starting at 7:15PM.