Thomson Phinney made 25 saves for his first shutout as a Piston and his second overall this season in a 5-0 Steinbach win over the Winkler Flyers Monday afternoon.
It was the annual Family Day with the Pistons on Monday afternoon during this Louis Riel Day holiday across Manitoba. The home team played one of their best games in weeks by blanking the 3rd place team in the MJHL standings.
Flyers goalie Dorrin Luding stopped 27 of 32 shots in the loss.
Both teams played cautiously during the first 20 minutes, with Winkler getting the majority of the quality chances. The best chance came from forward Grady Lane on a wrap-around attempt, however the Halifax native dove across and kept the puck out and the game scoreless.
It would be the Pistons that got on the board first five minutes into the second period. Carter Loney freed the puck up along the right wing for Declan Graham, and the captain fed a diagonal cross-ice pass on the tape of the hottest goal scorer in the MJHL. Zach Purcell would make no mistake his shot, netting him his 30th of the season and a 1-0 Steinbach advantage.
Bryce Young would give the home team a 2-0 lead with 4:45 to go in the middle frame, taking a bank pass from Dylan Cassie and beat Luding to the glove side. Kyle Bettens would get the secondary assist on Young’s first of two on the afternoon.
Curtis Ireland would stretch the lead out further late in the period, as he wired a slap shot from the right point into the back of the net and it was 3-0 Pistons. Ryan Butler had the lone assist on Ireland’s 3rd of the season.
The Flyers were skating well and creating tons of good looks but couldn’t beat Phinney, who was rock solid on the afternoon. And in the end, the Pistons were just too much to handle for the road team.
Tanner Mole would extend the Steinbach lead to four on the power play to begin the third period with a bomb of a one-timer from the point for his 13th of the season. Graham and Kyle Bettens had the assist on the power play goal.
Young would get his second of the night with exactly seven minutes to play in regulation, as he picked the corner with a wrist shot from the right wing for a 5-0 Pistons edge. Max Neill had the assist on Young’s 11th on the campaign.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Pistons went 1 for 5 on the power play while the Flyers went 0 for 4.
UP NEXT: After a busy stretch of games this weekend, it will be the same next weekend as the Pistons hit the road for their final road trip of the regular season beginning Friday night against the OCN Blizzard. Puck drop for that game is 7:00 pm.