In a pair of games over the weekend, the Steinbach Pistons needed overtime to decide both, first falling to the Virden Oil Capitals before bouncing back against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, eventually claiming three of a possible four points.
Friday night
In the first game of the weekend, the Pistons jumped out to a lead, but discipline issues resulted in a steady stream to the penalty box, allowing the Virden Oil Capitals to come back and win 4-3 in overtime.
Grady Hoffman got Steinbach started less than thirty seconds into the game.
Steinbach trapped the Oil Caps in their own zone, forcing a failed clearing attempt. Connor Paronuzzi intercepted a pass, then kicked a puck down to Hoffman, who was left all alone in front. The 20-year-old buried his 13th of the season, giving Steinbach an early 1-0 lead.
Later in the frame, a hard-working shift by William Picklyk, Eric Han, and Cole Cairns produced the second goal.
Intense forechecking from Cairns and Han made it so the Oil Capitals had no room to make a play, eventually coughing up the puck behind the goal. Picklyk snuck out front, took a pass from Han and deposited his 15th of the year, bringing the score to 2-0. Cairns picked up the secondary assist.
Chris Quizi got the start for Steinbach and he was called upon to make all kinds of saves in the opening 20-minutes.
Virden pushed hard, trying to find the back of the net, but whether it was long shots, point shots with traffic, in tight chances, odd-man rushes, or jam plays in front, Quizi had an answer for everything.
Shots tilted toward Virden 21-11, but Steinbach took a 2-0 lead into the break.
In the middle frame, Liam Doyle was sprung on a breakaway, and after crashing into the net thanks to the backchecking Oil Capital, the puck crossed the line and the 20-year-old blueliner was awarded his 8th, unassisted.
Then the penalty trouble finally caught up.
Until the final minutes of the second, Steinbach was a perfect 5-5 on the penalty kill, including an almost full two-minute five-on-three against.
But that streak would be broken when Virden converted, finally giving their team some life down 3-1.
Another pair of penalties stuck Steinbach down two men to start the third period, and the Oil Caps used that opportunity to cash in twice, knotting the game up 3-3.
A power play in the later stages of the third gave the Pistons a chance to restore their lead, but they couldn’t capitalize, and the game eventually moved into overtime.
Once again, penalty trouble would prove costly.
A penalty in the extra frame put the Oil Caps on a 4-on-3, and they would score the game-winning goal, coming back to win 4-3 in overtime.
Quizi was hung with the loss, but he was sensational throughout most of the game, stopping 46 shots in the loss.
The penalty kill battled hard all night, but too many opportunities against eventually produced all four Oil Caps goals, as the shorthanded units finished 6-10. The power play was also stung, finishing a disheartening 0-6.
Saturday night
It was almost a reverse from the previous night for Steinbach, minus the power play goals, but they did manage to dig themselves out of a couple of two-goal deficits, storming back to pick up a thrilling 5-4 overtime win against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.
For the first time since early December, Easton Thvedt got the start, his first since suffering an injury which kept him on the shelf for weeks.
Early on, Steinbach came out flying. Hard-working shifts piled up, and all that effort resulted in several turnovers by the Wolverines, but the Pistons were unable to capitalize.
Waywayseecappo’s best chance early on came off the rush as a forward broke in and crashed right into Thvedt, who hadn’t even faced a shot yet. He was able to shake it off, but it wouldn’t be the first issue he had with Waywayseecappo taking liberties.
In the back half of the period, a Wolverine forward got lost behind the Steinbach defenders, took a stretch pass and broke in all alone, scoring to make it 1-0 for the home side.
With under a minute remaining, more of that hard-working mentality from Steinbach would get them the equalizer.
Jackson Kostiuk, along with Evan Gradt hemmed the Wolverines in the corner, forcing them to give the puck away. Kostiuk moved it up to Luke Bogart, whose shot was blocked, but the rebound found its way over to a wide-open Jack Greenwell, who scored his team-leading 27th of the year, evening the game 1-1.
In the second, penalty trouble once again would bite the Pistons, putting them down 2-1.
Worse, a few minutes later, a Wolverine jamming for a puck caught Thvedt in the finger on his blocker hand, sending the goalie into a few laps, trying to shake off the discomfort.
Right after that, Waywayseecappo broke in and fired a shot that beat Thvedt clean on that blocker side, extending their lead to 3-1.
Down by two heading into the third, Steinbach would catch a massive break that would get them right back in the game.
Strangest goal of the year
It all started with a delayed penalty on a play that wasn’t a penalty at all.
Connor Paronuzzi chased his man around the net, and while Paronuzzi didn’t touch the Wolverine, he lost his footing, and the official put his arm up, signalling an upcoming penalty.
Waywayseecappo kept puck control, stopped up behind their net, pulled their goalie for the extra attacker, and then prepared to set up ice.
The only problem is that the pass from behind the net on the breakout wasn’t a good one.
Sweeping back into the defensive zone, the pass clanked off the Wolverine’s skate and wound up in the wide-open net. An own goal that cut the lead to 3-2.
In an epic turn of irony, it would be Paronuzzi who was awarded the goal, his 2nd of the year.
The Wolverines would eventually restore their two- goal lead, but the Pistons showed a lot of heart and mounted a comeback.
Zhenya Miles scored a key goal less than a minute after Waywayseecappo scored to go up by two, once again bringing Steinbach to within one.
For Miles, it was his 8th of the campaign with Cole Cairns and Paronuzzi getting credit for the assists.
Shift after shift, the Pistons pushed for the even-up marker, but some key saves and lucky breaks kept Waywayseecappo on top.
In the later stages, it was the Wolverines once again trying to drive the net, resulting in a player going hard into Thvedt, sending the goalie crashing backward.
Steinbach had apparently taken a penalty moments before, so the Wolverines’ second goaltender-interference penalty would mean the game would be four-on-four.
The Pistons pulled the goalie for the extra attacker and made it count.
A beautiful cross-lane pass from Kostiuk found a wide-open Even Gradt, who managed to get just enough on a shot, scoring his 20th of the year, knotting the game up 4-4. Marek Miller picked up the bonus assist.
Overtime
For a second straight game, a Pistons contest would be decided by overtime, but unlike Friday, Steinbach was on the right side of the result Saturday.
After a couple of shifts, Steinbach went with Sam Noad, Rory Gilmour, and Cole Cairns for a defensive zone faceoff. Waywayseecappo won the draw, but Cairns alertly dashed to the defender, blocking his attempt toward the net.
Cairns and Noad then tore off, and with Cairns looking pass, ripped a shot home for his 5th of the season, giving Steinbach a massive come-from-behind 5-4 victory on the road.
Thvedt was solid, especially in the third, finishing with 30 saves.
Steinbach’s power play looked more dangerous, but it could not connect, finishing 0-3. The penalty kill had a better night, going a strong 4-5.
Up next
Steinbach returns home for the next three games.
Wednesday, the Portage Terriers come to town, followed by the Northern Manitoba Blizzard’s first-ever visit on Friday.
A makeup game is scheduled for Saturday, as the Terriers will once again be in Steinbach.
Article provided by Steinbachonline.com.
