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Pistons Victorious on Opening Night

Courtesy of TheCarillon.com – Written by Terry Frey – Picture Courtesy of Adeline Loewen

Trailing 2-1 early in the second period, the Steinbach Pistons roared back with five straight goals to down the Waywayseecappo Wolverines 6-2 on opening night of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League season Friday night at Steinbach.

Mackenzie Graham scored the first goal of the season for the Pistons as he opened the scoring on the powerplay just 1:45 after the opeining faceoff. But Landon Cochrane tied it for the Wolverines late in the opening frame and then Lane Anderson gave the visitors the lead scoring on the powerplay 5:37 into the second.

Steinbach then ripped off five straight goals, including three in the second to take a 4-2 advantage into the third.

Mackenzie Graham led the way for the Pistons with a pair of goals in front of 922 opening night onlookers while newly minted captain Jordan Bochinski also netted a pair. Bradley Schoonbaert also had a three-point outing with a goal and two assists. Ryan Carlson rounded out the scoring for the Pistons.

Roman Bengert got the win in nets as the Pistons outshot Wayway by a wide margin, 45-18.

Elsewhere on opening night in the MJHL: Selkirk edged Winnipeg 3-2, Swan Valley outscored Dauphin 3-1, Portage blanked Virden 4-0 and Winkler downed Neepawa 3-1.

The Pistons next see action Sunday at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Selkirk to take on the Steelers. That will be Selkirk’s third game in three nights as they have another game with the Blues tonight.

Then, in a much anticipated match-up, the Pistons will return home on Wednesday to host the two-time defending champion Portage Terriers in a re-match of last year’s championship series that saw the Terriers defeat the Pistons.