A tough final minute of the first period put the Pistons in a hole and an unlucky bounce in overtime killed the comeback bid as the Winnipeg Blues beat Steinbach 4-3 on Saturday night.

The start of Saturday's game looked very similar to Friday's where the Pistons came out flying and got on the board quickly.

Neo Kiemeney picked up the puck from behind the Blues goal and skated all the way around to the top of the zone before firing a shot that beat the Blues goalie high to give Steinbach a 1-0 lead. Nate Goodbrandson and Jack Rogers had the assists on Kiemeney's 2nd goal of the season.

Winnipeg bounced right back and managed to tie the game less than two minutes later.

In the final minute, the Blues were able to grab the lead while on a power play then struck again just 13 seconds later after a scramble in front of the Pistons goal, giving them a 3-1 cushion heading into the first intermission.

Steinbach showed resilience, continued to work hard and eventually it paid off.

While on a man advantage of their own, Rogers swooped in from the half-wall, toe dragged around a Blues defender trying to block his shot and rifled a shot top corner to cut the lead to 3-2. Rogers' 6th of the season was assisted by Zac Patrick and Quinton Pepper.

Rogers would double dip as he tied the game 3-3 scoring again this time with a hard low shot that went between post and the goalies skate. His 7th of the campaign was helped by Goodbrandson and Kiemeney.

In the third, Steinbach controlled for much of the period as Winnipeg seemed content to just toss the puck into the neutral zone. Steinbach threw lots of shots towards the Blues net. They just couldn't find a way to get the go-ahead goal and the game eventually headed into the extra frame.

Winnipeg managed to pick up the win as they caught a huge break when a puck hit off the glass behind the Pistons goal and came right out on the side of the net where a Blues player tapped it in.

The Blues skated away with a big four points over the two weekend games but Steinbach still holds the lead in the Eastern Conference and the League with 29 points through 18 games.

Steinbach's power play showed some signs of life, finishing 1-4 while the penalty kill needed to be strong and for the most part was, going 6-7.

Simon Harkness started again for Steinbach and finished the game with 34 saves. Steinbach fired 45 shots towards the Blues goalie.

In the final divisional match-up before the Showcase in Portage, the Pistons and the Blues meet again next weekend starting Friday night in Winnipeg.

 

Game Notes:

- Dawson Milliken and Davis Fry had their point streaks snapped

- Jack Rogers has a 5 game point streak (3 goals, 3 assists)

- Nate Goodbrandson had two assists breaking a 7 game pointless streak