The Steinbach Pistons kicked off the 2026 Turnbull Cup Playoffs on Friday night in their best-of-seven quarterfinal series with the Portage Terriers at Southeast Event Centre in Game One.
It marked the second straight season the two teams went head-to-head in the opening round of the playoffs.
Portage silenced the SEC, which saw over 2,000 fans on Friday night, with the opening goal of the series on the power play at 3:40 of the second period. Drayden Uhrina threw the puck on net and it hit a body and went past Pistons goaltender Chris Quizi to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The Terriers went up by a pair near the midway point of the game when Rhett Platt, who was left all alone in on Quizi, beat the Steinbach netminder after a couple of dekes on his forehand to strengthen Portage’s lead.
It didn’t take long for Steinbach to respond as Jackson Kostiuk gave his club exactly what they needed 29 seconds later: life. Kostiuk ripped a shot from the high slot past Logan Cunningham low blocker side to give the hometown crowd something to cheer about, making it 2-1.
Steinbach made it a brand new game 5:14 into the third period when Zhenya Miles fired a shot from the middle of the ice past Cunningham for a power-play marker to tie it 2-2 for his first of the postseason.
At 15:36, after Steinbach failed to capitalize on a late-game power play, Beck Bethard came dashing out of the penalty box, stole the puck from Pistons defenceman Rory Gilmour, and went on a breakaway to beat Quizi top corner to stun Steinbach by regaining the lead late in Game One.
Steinbach pushed for the tying goal but it wasn’t enough as Portage hung on to take the opening game 3-2. Quizi made 21 saves between the pipes.
The Pistons will now head to Stride Place in Portage looking to bounce back in Game Two on Sunday. Puck drop is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and the game can be watched on FloHockey.
Article written by Evan Waldner and picture taken by Patrick Friesen
