Content Provided By: Steinbach Online
It wasn’t the smoothest of weekends for the Steinbach Pistons but they came away with an overtime win on Saturday after being shut out the night before to pick up two out of a possible four points.
Frustrating Fright
The first game of the weekend was nothing to write home about as the Pistons were blanked by the Selkirk Steelers 1-0, marking the first time the Steelers have shut out the Pistons since November of 2013.
In the first period, neither team was able to do much in the way of producing offense but the Steelers did come up with a couple of chances that were turned away by Cole Plowman, who was the best player for his club throughout the contest.
Shots after the first period were 11-8 Selkirk but it remained scoreless.
In the second, both teams picked it up a bit and had some opportunities. The best was a Steelers breakaway that was again turned away by Plowman, keeping it deadlocked at zeros after 40.
In the third, the Steelers finally broke through and scored off a scramble in front of the net to grab a 1-0 lead.
Despite picking up their play in the final few minutes, Steinbach couldn’t find the back of the net and were left frustrated after a 1-0 loss on the road.
The power play struggles continued going 0-3 while the penalty kill was rock solid again finishing 4-4.
Plowman was saddled with the loss but the 20-year-old did everything he could to give his team a chance, making 27 saves on the night.
Sensational Szabo Saves Saturday
Just as everything looked well in control, the Pistons surrendered the tying goal late and needed some overtime heroics from Noah Szabo to secure the extra point in a wild 6-5 win over the Winnipeg Freeze Saturday night at the HyLife Centre.
Things started well enough with Steinbach owning the puck, the offensive zone, time of possession, and shots on goal but credit the Freeze who came up with some massive blocks, keeping things scoreless early.
Jackson Kostiuk broke the game open with his first of the year as the smooth skating centreman snapped home his first career MJHL goal, giving his team a 1-0 lead. Sam Noad and Liam Doyle combined for the assists.
After going 0-1 in the game and 0-17 over a few games, the power play finally broke through thanks to 20-year-old Jack Cook who wired a shot home from the point to increase the lead to 2-0. Noah Szabo and Connor Paronuzzi had the assists.
Less than a minute after the Cook goal, the Freeze cut the lead in half to make it a 2-1 game after the first period.
In the second, captain Leo Chambers, who played well all night, wired home a wrist shot while on a power play to restore Steinbach’s 3-1 lead. Parker Jasper and Hunter Degelman were given credit for the helpers.
Once again, the Freeze responded after giving up a goal by scoring one of their own to bring them back to within one, 3-2.
Paronuzzi would give the Pistons a two-goal lead once again as the speedster drove wide and then towards the slot, putting a puck on goal that looked to hit a defender’s stick and make it’s way past the goalie and in for a 4-2 Steinbach lead. Paronuzzi’s second of the year was assisted by Chambers and Cook.
In the early stages of the third, it looked like much of the game, Steinbach in control. But things slowly started to turn at the midway point.
Winnipeg scored just before the halfway mark to cut the lead to 4-3.
Less than a minute later, they struck again to tie the game 4-4.
Pistons goalie Beck Liden wasn’t called upon to make many flashy saves but after the Freeze tied it up, they rushed down the ice looking to grab their first lead but a forward was hauled down and the referee called a penalty shot.
Liden came out to the top of his crease, tracked the player coming at him and with the game on the line, made the biggest save of the night, keeping things tied 4-4.
Fans moved to the edge of their seat more and more with each passing minute, until they were brought to their feet by a player who’s waited a long time to find the back of the net again.
David Cote scored his first MJHL goal in his first MJHL game back in 2021-22. He’s waited 77 games to score again and he picked a big moment to do it.
The defender took a pass from the half wall and feathered an absolutely perfect shot through a whole whack of traffic in front and in for his first of the year. Chambers notched another point while Brandon Funk also had an assist on the goal that put Steinbach up 5-4 late.
No quit in the Freeze and with the goalie pulled, a scramble in front produced a goal, sending the teams to overtime.
In the extra frame, Szabo took a pass from Cote, made a beautiful move around a Freeze checker, bullied his way in front, and snapped off a lovely backhand that found the back of the net, putting Steinbach in the win column with a 6-5 thriller.
Cote picked up one helper while Chambers capped off a very impressive night with his third assist and fourth point overall.
Liden got the start in the net and could hardly be faulted for the goals against. The 18-year-old faced long, long stretches of inactivity but did get into more of a rhythm as the game went on, making a few key saves on the penalty kill specifically on top of the game-saving penalty shot stop.
Shots were 46-28 Steinbach. The power play clicked twice going 2-7 while the penalty kill finished 4-5.
Up Next
Steinbach has a week of practice before heading up North to take on the OCN Blizzard on Friday night followed by a date with the Swan Valley Stampeders on Saturday night.