It took over 59 minutes of hockey action before one team finally got on the board and it was the Steinbach Pistons capitalizing on a turnover to edge the Winkler Flyers 1-0 on Friday night.

Steinbach goalie Simon Harkness and Winkler netminder Brock Moroz went head to head in an entertaining battle, that saw both goalies keep it scoreless through almost the entire game.

It was the first exhibition game for many of the players on both sides and it showed at times in the opening period. 

Both teams struggled to find control of the puck, worked to find chemistry with new line-mates and adjusted to the speed of playing an actual opponent. Both teams got better as the period went on but neither team could get much in the way of offence.

The Flyers had the edge in shots after the first, 11-9.

In the second, things started to pick up as both teams found a bit of a rhythm. 

It seemed like the teams would take turns having offensive zone time, trying to create chances but again, neither team could find the back of the net. 

For a second consecutive period, Winkler led in shots 13-8.

In the final period of regulation, Steinbach's Cooper Rice had a glorious chance as he cut in towards the net, made a sweet little move and managed to put the puck up and past Moroz but clinking off the crossbar.

With less than a minute remaining in the third, the home side finally broke the scoreless draw. The Flyers mishandled the bouncing puck behind their net and the puck popped out in front and Marc-Antoine Ducharme buried it to make it 1-0.

Timeout was called by Winkler with under 30 seconds remaining but the Pistons locked it down and skated away with a 1-0 victory.

The power play had a few different combinations as the Pistons had 7 chances but couldn't convert on any. Steinbach also managed to go 3-3 on the penalty kill. 

A return match-up is set for Saturday night in Winkler.