Content Provided By: Steinbach Online
The Steinbach Pistons picked up back-to-back wins, scoring an impressive 12 goals and only allowing 1 in that span, pushing their latest winning streak to six.
A Moment of Remembrance
Prior to the puck drop on Saturday night, the Steinbach Pistons held a moment of silence in honor of Remembrance Day.
Sixes Are Wild
Saturday night saw 6 different Pistons find the back of the net while goaltender Cole Plowman notched his first shutout of the year making 16 saves against the Selkirk Steelers.
Coming off a week between games, the Pistons took a little time to get their mojo back but as the first period went along, they started to take over. The best chance came late in the frame when David Cote floated a point shot through traffic that rang off the bar and stayed out.
The score was 0-0 after 20 minutes but the home side held the advantage in shots 10-4 and really didn’t allow Selkirk much of anything outside of a few shots from distance, easily handled by the veteran Plowman.
In the second, the scoring parade started thanks to Brandon Funk who bullied his way to the front of the net and deflected a Parker Jasper point shot while on a power play for his 8th of the season. Kirk Mullen grabbed a secondary assist on the 1-0 goal.
Mullen would extend the lead a few minutes later as the 20-year-old tipped a Noah Szabo point shot through the Steelers goalie and in for his 8th of the year. Funk collected his second point of the period on the 2-0 goal.
Just over two minutes later, Grady Hoffman got into the scoring act as the rookie scoring leader notched his 11th of the year from Jackson Kostiuk and Liam Doyle.
Mullen capped off the four-goal period with his second of the night and 9th of the year as the Pistons power play extended the lead further to 4-0. Szabo and Jack Cook were given the assists.
In the third, David Cote fired a perfect pass to a waiting Brett Kaiser who just tapped the puck into the wide-open net for his 4th of the season. Hunter Degelman who was a physical force all night, picked up the second assist.
The final goal of the night belonged to Brady Ingebritson who chipped a sneaky backhand up in the air and floated it over the goalie for his 4th of the campaign, making it a 6-0 contest. Hoffman and Leo Chambers picked up the assists.
Plowman wasn’t overly tested but did make a huge pad save early in the third period and eventually went a perfect 16-16 for his first shutout of the year.
Steinbach’s power play finished 2-7 while the penalty kill was a perfect 5-5.
Sixes Wild, Again!
Coming off a dominant performance the night before, the Pistons carried it over and thumped the Portage Terriers in Stride Place 6-1 on Sunday.
Things didn’t start out rosey for the road side as less than a minute in, a penalty against proved costly as the white-hot Portage power play struck to go up 1-0.
As the period went along, Steinbach slowly tilted things in their direction. They owned the puck, moved out of their own zone quickly, and forced the Terriers into turnovers.
In the final seconds of the frame, the Pistons went to the power play and Grady Hoffman tied things up with a hard, heavy wrister from the slot with just 8 seconds left. Liam Doyle and Parker Jasper had the assists on the 1-1 goal.
In the first minute of the second, Steinbach got their first lead thanks to Connor Paronuzzi who cashed in on a rebound in front of the Portage goal. For Paronnuzzi, it was his 7th of the year while linemates Brandon Funk and Kirk Mullen picked up assists.
Less than two minutes later, Noah Szabo unleashed a beautiful stretch pass right onto the tape of a streaking Sam Noad who broke in all alone and made no mistake for his first career MJHL goal. Jack Cook also picked up his team-leading 17th assist on the 4-1 marker.
Noad wasn’t done in the period as the scrappy forward went to the front of the net after a clean faceoff win by Jackson Kostiuk got the puck back to Szabo who fired a shot towards the goal which was perfectly deflected by Noad for his second of the night.
The 4-1 lead was held as the teams closed out the second period and went into the third.
Steinbach continued to stifle the Terriers, refusing to give them time or space to use their speed. Time after time, the defenders stood up and squashed any chances before anything dangerous could even be considered.
Szabo continued his hot streak as the 19-year-old defender scored his 5th of the season from Kostiuk and Wyatt Mattfield to push the lead to 5-1.
A scary moment late in the game as a Terrier forward took a run at Pistons defender Jack Cook sending the defender to the ice in serious discomfort. Cook, after spending a few moments on the ice in obvious pain, was able to make it to the bench under his own power but did not play the rest of the night.
The Portage player was given a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding.
More penalties piled up in the final minutes and while on a power play, Steinbach’s Brandon Funk scored his 9th of the year against his former team from Mullen and David Cote to put the game away 6-1.
Plowman was rock solid again making 17 saves on the night for his 10th win.
The power play finished 2-7 while the penalty kill went a strong 4-5.
Up Next
Steinbach has a few days between games again as they set to head to Swan Valley on Friday to battle the Stampeders. Saturday night they are in The Pas to duel with the Blizzard.