The Steinbach Pistons face off against the Portage Terriers tonight in Portage at Stride Place. This game should be a good one as both teams are tied for top winning percentage in the MJHL.
Steinbach is currently riding a four-game win streak, seeing them most recently beat the Winkler Flyers 4-1 this past Wednesday. Penalty kill has been a strong point for the Pistons as of late, seeing them not let in a powerplay goal over the last four games, going 19/19 on the PK over that time. Steinbach’s goalie tandem of Cole Plowman and Domenik Wasik has also continued to be strong as they both are in the top 5 for GAA and SV%. As a team, Steinbach sits in third place in the MJHL with 70 goals and first in goal differential with +37. Portage will be the toughest opponent the Pistons have faced this season as they have been neck and neck this whole season with almost and identical record.
Portage has had a dominant season so far, seeing them in second place in the MJHL with a 15-2 record and 30 points. Bailey Monteith and Jayden Catellier have been a strong goalie tandem for the Terriers as they both have a 7-1 record. Defensive scoring has been a corner piece for the Terriers as Hayden Lacquette and Brandon McCartney both have a point game and are second and third in team scoring. Like the Pistons, offence has also been firing for the Terriers as they are second in the MJHL with a +35-goal differential.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
PISTONS: PP 18/65 – 27.7% PK 67/77 – 87%
TERRIERS: PP 20/90 – 22.2% PK 76/88 – 86.4%
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Pistons: Warren Clark
Warren Clark recently committed to play hockey at NCAA Div 1 St. Cloud State University. Clark has had a great start to the season for the Steinbach Pistons. He currently sits first in team defence scoring and 5th in MJHL rookie scoring with 14 points (3 goals and 11 assists) in 15 games. Clark is a big part of the Pistons powerplay with eight of his points coming on the man advantage.
Terriers: Hayden Lacquette
Lacquette is the kind of player you hate to play against but love when he is on your team. Lacquette has grit and gets under your skin but also will shut down your offence and contribute in the offensive zone. Hayden Lacquette is currently in second in team scoring with 19 points (5 goals and 14 assists) in 18 games and has 63 PIMs to go along with that.