Drew Worrad continued his recent hot streak with three goals and one assist as the Steinbach Pistons defeated the Neepawa Natives 10-3 Sunday night at the Yellowhead Arena in Neepawa.
Playing their first road game in two weeks, the Steinbach offence continued its explosive nature as all but three Piston forwards recorded points in the win.
Worrad got his first when he came off of the bench on his first shift, grabbed a loose puck, and wrapped around the net to tuck it in behind Evan Robert to quickly make it 1-0 for Steinbach. Worrad’s linemates Will Koop and Bradley Schoonbaert combined to find Worrad all alone in front of the net, and he made no mistake for his second on the night.
“He has come back after his injury, and has not missed a beat,” coach Paul Dyck said after the game. ” He is a threat every time he is on the ice and plays a large part in our offence.”
Thiessen made 28 saves in the Steinbach victory.
Neepawa found their legs after a furious Piston start, and they got the next goal as Justin Metcalf ripped a shot over the blocker arm of Matthew Thiessen for his 5th of the season.
There was a barrage of goals to start the second period, Schoonbaert found himself in front of the net, and deposited the puck into the open goal as the Pistons took a 3-1 lead. Metcalf responded with a slapshot on the power play to restore the one-goal deficit. Just 21 seconds later, Brendan Martin got his 2nd goal in 2 games to put Steinbach up by two once again.
Worrad completed his hat-trick when he tipped a Schoonbaert pass behind a surprised Robert into the Native net. Jack Johnson fired a wrist shot on a 2-on-1 rush with two minutes remaining in the period for the Pistons’ sixth goal of the game.
Breaden Binda got the Natives’ third goal early in the third, however three quick goals by Tyson McConnell, Daniel McKitrick, and Will Koop made it a blow-out in the third. McConnell added another on a short-handed penalty shot to make the final score 10-3.
Thiessen made 28 saves in what was another solid defensive performance by him and the Pistons’ blue line.
“They did a good job of finding their outlets and advancing pucks,” Dyck noted when asked about the play of the defencemen. “They eliminated time and space and really competed in the defensive zone.”
LEADING THE WAY
It wasn’t just Worrad doing the scoring on Steinbach’s top line, as Schoonbaert and Koop added 3 points each to make it 10 points on the night for the trio. Schoonbaert upped his MJHL leading point total to 33 points.
UP NEXT: The Pistons will play back-to-back games on the road to start November against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines this coming Saturday and Sunday.