A more consistent effort through 60 minutes of play, very strong defensive play and excellent goaltending added up to a Steinbach Pistons win for a second consecutive night defeating the Winkler Flyers 3-1 in Winkler Saturday night.

Road Period Perfection

With it being the Flyers home opener, Steinbach knew they had to be ready early and every player bought into the defensive side of the game in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Steinbach managed the better of the play and limited the Flyers to little in the way of offence. The best chance for either team was when Steinbach's Zach Purcell but a backhander off the post.

The shots after the opener period were 7-7 but the score was 0-0.

Just What You'd Hope For

To start the second period, it was exactly what the coaches would hope for as Steinbach struck twice in the span of 9 seconds.

First, it was Kyle Bettens who scored for a second night in a row.

After being sprung on a breakaway from a great pass from line mate Carter Loney, Bettens broke in and went bar down to give Steinbach a 1-0 lead. Christian Riemer had the secondary assist on the goal.

Mere seconds later, a centering pass was deflected home by Max Neil to make it 2-0. For the 18-year-old, it was his first of the season with assists going to Rylan Clemons and Tucker Hodgson.

Thrill Of The Kill

Midway through the period holding on to that 2-0 lead, the Pistons got themselves into penalty trouble.

A hooking call and a bench minor for too many men on the ice put Steinbach down 5 on 3 for a full 2 minutes.

The penalty killers went to work and put on a clinic as they kept Winkler to the outside, forced the issue on any loose pucks and made life very difficult when it came to finding passing lanes.

Matt Lenz in goal was called on to make a couple of big saves, most notably a quick, hard shot from just below the circle which was kicked out by the 20-year-old and eventually cleared.

"It's all about talking" Lenz said after the game. "It's about picking up the guys trying to sneak around. The three guys out there, we were able to communicate and clear pucks."

Learn Something New

It appeared as though Steinbach had taken a 3-0 lead later in the second when Kyle Bettens scored on a power play but the referees made a call that had many fans wondering what had happened.

With Joey Dosan in front causing a screen as the puck went in. The referees immediately blew the play down and signaled no goal. 

As explained in 2016, this is taken from the Hockey Canada website.

"Unless the puck is in the goal crease, a player of the attacking side may not stand in the goal crease. If the puck should enter the net while such conditions prevail the goal shall not be allowed. However, if an attacking player is in the goal crease but does not interfere with the goaltender and another attacking player (who is outside the goal crease) scores, the goal shall be allowed provided that the player who is in the goal crease does not attempt to play the puck, interfere with the play, obstruct the goaltender's view or his movement."

In the case of Dosan, it was deemed he interfered with the goaltenders sight and not the actual goaltender. So the goal was disallowed but there was no penalty on the play.

The remaining 5 minutes of the period ticked away and ended with Steinbach up 2-0.

Comin' Out Flyin'

Much like the previous night when Winkler managed to come back and tie the game, they were a determined hockey team to start the third.

The Flyers poured on the pressure in the Pistons end, directing shot after shot towards the goal. 

At times, Steinbach's defensive play was scrambly but they held strong and extinguished a number of good chances by the Flyers.

Welcome To Steinbach, Codey

In his second regulars season game as a Steinbach Piston, Codey Behun scored his first goal to push Steinbach ahead 3-0.

Behun showed great speed driving to the net and very quick hands as he took a pass from Declan Graham and snapped a wrister through the Winkler goalie.

Cracked Goose Egg

After 50 minutes of not having much to cheer about, the Winkler fans were finally treated to a goal when Drake Burgin managed to put a puck on net that appeared to hit something in front and deflect past Lenz to make it 3-1.

That's as close as Winkler would get and for a second night in a row, it was the Pistons leaving the ice victorious.

Lenz-Sational

Matt Lenz was fantastic on the night making 37 saves. 20 of which came in the third period.

He said post-game that it's great for his confidence. "It's huge. Four points against Winkler is huge for us. It's a good way to start the season and we're ready for a good game against Portage now, for sure."

Game Notes

Power Play: 0-3 (Power Play did have a goal called back but has started 0-8)

Penalty Kill: 0-4 (Penalty kill is a perfect 9-9 to start the year)

Shots on goal: 38-34 Winkler

Coaches Thoughts

Assistant Coach Calvin Bugyik spoke after the game on his teams first two regular season games, both of which were wins. "Overall it was a good weekend. We got our four points. We, as expected, saw some good things both nights but also things we need to work on. We didn't spend a whole lot of time at camp teaching the details. We were trying to emphasize a few key points so we expect a learning curve. We did enough to win some games so it's a good start."

Kyle Bettens, Carter Loney and Zach Purcell have impressed in their first two games together and are finding their way as a line, according to Bugyik. "They were good. It's a young line but there's a lot of skill. There's size and skill there so it's not surprising to see them on the score sheet."

Another early season test at the Pistons travel to Portage, a barn where wins have been tough to come by. 

Bugyik says his team will be ready come Wednesday. "We want to see a good pace, especially early. That will be key for our group all year. Moving fast, moving pucks fast and thinking fast. If we can do that, we should be fine."

Up Next

@ Portage - Wednesday, Sept. 25th - 7:30 pm

@ Virden - Saturday, Sept. 28th - 7:30 pm