There was a buzz in the building right from the start as the TG Smith Centre was packed with families set to take the ice after the game for the Piston's annual family skate. Over 1100 people made their way into the old barn to watch one of the hottest rivalries in the league and it didn't take long to kick into high gear.
In the opening minutes, it was all Pistons as shift after shift, they worked inside the Nighthawks zone. Niverville didn't panic and stuck to their defensive structure and when they did have breakdowns, goalie Chris Fines was there to make the save.
Spurred on by the performance of their goaltender, the Nighthawks managed to get on the board first as Ben Whitford made his way out of the corner with the puck and caught a break as the Pistons forward chasing him ran into the official giving Whitford some space which he used to fire home a perfect shot for his 4th goal of the year. Captain of the Nighthawks Brett Tataryn picked up the lone assist.
Less than two minutes after the goal, Pistons forward Ty Paisley was called for a check from behind and given a two-minute minor and questionable game misconduct, leaving the Pistons with 11 forwards for the bulk of the game.
Niverville couldn't capitalize on the man advantage and the score remained 1-0 through 20 minutes despite Steinbach owning an advantage in the shot department, 12-5.
Going back prior to the game, assistant coach Calvin Bugyik was talking about Kaiser's play of late including his goal Saturday against the Dauphin Kings. "It was funny, we were standing on the bench (Saturday night) to start the third, and Brett kind of walked by me and I said '23, you got one this period' and he kind of looked at me and smiled and I said 'no, I think you got two'. So, he owes me one."
Kaiser is a man who pays his debts.
Under four minutes into the second, the 17-year-old buried a loose puck after fighting his way to the front of the net and knotting the contest up at 1-1. Travis Hensrud and Noah Szabo picked up the assists.
For Hensrud, it's his third straight game with a point, and gives him 6 points in that span. Also, Szabo himself is on a hot streak of late, putting up 4 points in his last two contests.
The game stayed 1-1 thanks to some spectacular goaltending by Dominik Wasik of Steinbach and Niverville's Chris Fines.
Steinbach pushed to get the lead after the goal but the big 20-year-old netminder for the Nighthawks turned away any shot that came his way.
Not to be outdone, Wasik made some spectacular saves first on Braden Panzer who managed to win a board battle before powering his way to the front of the net, going to his backhand but was bested by the left pad of Wasik.
A short time later, defender Kayden Skulmoski walked into a shot from the point but clanked it off the outside of the post.
Desmond Johson, who was buzzing around most of the night, had perhaps the best chance as the speedy right-handed defender picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, turned on the jets, and tore into the Piston's zone, driving wide around the defenseman and crashing towards the net on his forehand but Wasik stuck with him and made another 10-bell pad save, keeping the score even.
Shots and chances evened out as both teams went into the final intermission of regulation looking to come out with some momentum.
It would be the road team that punched first in the final frame as Ty Kennett cashed in on a rebound off an excellent play from Brendan Bottem, who managed to jump up and grab a floating puck, put it down to his stick directing a shot off the pads of Wasik knowing Kennett was crashing the net. Gavin Gunderson also picked up an assist as the big-bodied forward started the play by using his size to puck protect up the boards before putting a puck toward the goal.
The lead didn't last more than 30 seconds before 19-year-old Kirk Mullen tied the game while standing on the goal line. From a nearly impossible angle, Mullen showed off his elite pin-point accuracy by beating Fines far side for his 9th of the season. Kaiser collected a helper as did Warren Clark.
Time slowly chipped away as fans from both sides moved closer and closer to the edge of their seats.
With under four minutes to go, Niverville had a chance to clear the puck out of their zone but defender David Cote, back after serving a three-game suspension, managed to knock the puck down, gather himself, and put it toward the goal. By that time, Kaiser had worked his way to the front of the net and knocked the puck down with a deflection. The attempt was stopped but the rebound was there for Leo Chambers who pounced and buried his 17th of the year, blowing the roof off the TG Smith Centre.
Chambers' goal gave Stenbach their first lead of the night.
With time ticking away on the Nighthawks and their net empty, they pulled out all the stops trying desperately to find the equalizer but Wasik with help from the defenders refused to let the Nighthawks get close.
Eventually, the clock wound all the way down to zero and the Pistons celebrated a hard-fought, well-earned 3-2 win while the Nighthawks had to swallow another one-goal loss, their sixth defeat in a row.
Wasik picked up his second straight win by making 24 saves, a number of which were elite chances against.
Fines was tagged with the loss, making 37 saves on 40 shots.
It was not a special teams game by any stretch as each team had just one power play and neither team scored on it.
Steinbach next sees action on Thursday night when they travel to Waywayseecappo to take on the Wolverines.
Niverville is off until Saturday night when they play their biggest game of the year to date, a matchup against the Selkirk Steelers, who are chasing down Niverville for the 4th and final playoff spot in the MGEU East Division. The Steelers are just one point back but have played one more game than the Nighthawks.
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