It was a good night for Pistons forward Kyle Bettens, as he led the way with two goals and an assist as Steinbach snapped a three game home losing streak with a solid 6-3 win Saturday night over the Winnipeg Blues.
Captain Tyson McConnell chipped in with two power play goals as well, Nico Labossiere had a goal and an assist, and defencemen Troy Williams and Declan Graham both had two assists. Matt Radomsky got the start for Steinbach, and made 26 saves in goal. Steinbach finally got to nemesis Jeremy Link, who had 27 saves for the Blues in the loss.
The Pistons got off to a solid start and cashed in on their first power play chance, as Graham whacked the puck to McConnell at the side of the net. The captain hit his first shot of the post, but made no mistake on the second chance for his 17th of the season at the 11:35 mark of the first period. Kyle Bettens and Graham had the assists on the McConnell marker.
Winnipeg quickly answered with two goals in the period to lead 2-1 after 20 minutes of play. Nathan Adrian scored 29 seconds after the McConnell goal to tie it up, and Kelton Sutherland buried a beauty backhand pass from Braeden Binda below the goal line to make it 2-1 for the Blues.
Bettens took over in the second period, as he outwaited Link and used his long reach to slide a backhander past the goalie to equalize for the Pistons 1:14 into the second period. Labossiere had the lone assist on the goal.
Then on their second power play of the game, Steinbach took the lead as Declan Graham found McConnell with a beauty cross ice feed. The Pilot Mound product tapped in his second of the night to give the Pistons a 3-2 lead, with Curtis Ireland picking up the other assist on McConnell’s 18th of the season.
Labossiere would double the Pistons’ lead, as he tipped home a Troy Williams pass through Link and in for his 4th of the season at 7:26 of the second period.
The Blues answered back with seven minutes to go in the frame on one that Radomsky would probably like to have back. Binda threw a backhander on his off-wing and it squeaked through the Pistons starter and it was 4-3 Steinbach.
However good friend Bettens quickly restored the two goal advantage with 4:35 left in the second, as he chipped to the open ice and used his speed to beat the Winnipeg defenders. He faked the forehand shot, Link bit, and he slid a backhander into a yawning cage to make it 5-3 Steinbach. Williams picked up his second helper on Bettens’ 6th of the season.
Steinbach played a strong lockdown third period, and didn’t give the Blues a quality scoring all throughout the last frame. Jack Kilroy sealed the deal, as he intercepted a pass and threw the puck into the empty net for his 4th of the season with 1:40 to go and make it 6-3 Pistons.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Steinbach went 2 for 4 on the power play, while Winnipeg went 0 for 4.
UP NEXT: A little bit of rest comes Steinbach’s way, as they continue their season long five game homestand on Wednesday night against the Dauphin Kings at 7:30 pm. Catch the action live on HockeyTV.