It wasn't a perfect start but from the mid-way point of the first period onward, the Steinbach Pistons dominated the OCN Blizzard finishing with a 7-2 win to kick off a three games in three night road trip.

The first half of the first period was controlled mostly by the Blizzard. They outworked the Pistons, clogged up the neutral zone, blocked shots and used their speed in transition.

Their hard work would pay off as they opened the scoring almost half way through the opening frame.

Steinbach got the game back to even as Joey Dosan scored his first career Manitoba Junior Hockey League goal. Dosan buried a wonderful pass from Max Neil for the 1-1 marker. Kaysn Kruse picked up the secondary assist on the goal.

It was a special moment for Dosan who was all smiles after the game.

Another special moment happened in the first as former Blizzard forward Ryan Butler scored in his first game back as a member of the Pistons. Butler wired a beauty wrist shot for his 23rd of the season. Carter Loney and Zach Purcell picked up the assists which started quite the night for that line.

In the second, it was Purcell's turn to show off an elite shot as he forced the Blizzard defender back on his heels with his speed, then put a perfect shot through the guy's legs, off the far post and in. The 3-1 goal was Purcell's 31st of the year and he continues to be white hot as he now has 19 goals since January 14th. Loney grabbed his second assist of the night while Dylan Cassie also was credited with a helper.

The lead grew to 4-1 when Ty Naaykens scored his 22nd goal of the season as he too used a wonderful shot to beat the OCN goalie up high. Kyle Bettens and Bryce Young had the assists as yet again, it was a total line effort that resulted in a Pistons goal.

In the final period, Young broke in with Kyle Bettens and delivered a picture perfect pass while on a two on one that Bettens was able to deflect in to make it 5-1. The short handed goal was the 17th of the year for the younger of the Bettens brothers.

A pair of goals in under three minutes really broke things open.

First it was Max Neil scoring his 13th of the year to make it 6-1 with Codey Behun picking up the primary assist and Kruse adding a helper as well as he capped off a strong two point night.

Then Loney also capped off a big night as he scored his 15th of the campaign to complete a three point night for the rookie. Butler picked up the lone assist to finish off a tidy two point night for himself.

OCN did manage to find the back of the net late to make it 7-2 but that's how it would end.

Matt Lenz got his groove back as the 20-year-old made some big saves when called upon, finishing with 36 stops in the win.

The power play finished 0-3 while the penalty kill was 1-1.

With the win, the Pistons hit the 40 mark for the season. There's two more games on this road trip and only two more games after that left in the regular season.

Saturday's game will be at 7:30 on MIX 96 and SteinbachOnline.com vs the Swan Valley Stampeders. The same two teams battle on Sunday as well.

Don't forget to get your votes in for the Steinbach Pistons Fan Favorite. The award is handed out at the end of season banquet. https://steinbachonline.com/steinbach-pistons-fan-favorite