The Steinbach Pistons finished the road portion of their pre-season schedule in Winkler where the Flyers laid down a 6-0 beating Friday night.

In the opening period, both teams had their chances but were turned away by solid goaltending. 

Steinbach starter Cole Plowman, acquired in the summer from the Selkirk Steelers, made his pre-season debut and was solid, especially the two times his team was shorthanded. The 19-year-old finished the opening period with 15 saves.

Second-year Pistons forward Dawson Milliken got into his first exhibition game and had the best chances for his club to break the scoreless draw but couldn't and it remained 0-0 after the first.

Early in the second, the wheels came off for the Pistons.

Winkler potted three goals in the first five minutes of the second period to grab a 3-0 lead.

The Flyers smothered and pressured Steinbach in all three zones and didn't allow any opportunity for the Pistons to build momentum.

A planned switch of the goalies at the midway point of the second saw Plowman come out after making 19 saves on 22 shots. Sean Walia came in and played the remainder of the game.

Thunder Bay product Travis Hensrud and Davis Fry had two two-on-one chances in the second period but both were turned away, keeping Steinbach off the scoreboard.

It wasn't a warm welcome to the contest for Walia as the Flyers were able to get a shot away from the point that made its way through traffic and in to push the lead to 4-0.

The third period saw Steinbach again struggle to get anything going and frustrations began to mount.

In the middle part of the third period, Pistons defenceman Owen Johnston was given a 2-minute minor and game misconduct for a check from behind.

In the ensuing scrum following the Johnston hit, Ty Paisley got into a wrestling match with a Flyers player that drew the attention of both benches. Both players went down in a heap and were split up by the officials.

At the same time, Nolan Bettens was tangled up with a Flyers player. Both players tried to shed their gloves and while Bettens did and was able to throw a couple of punches that didn't really connect, the officials were quickly in the middle and broke it up.

Bettens was given 4 minutes for roughing on the play.

Late in the contest, the Flyers were awarded another man advantage, their 7th opportunity of the game, and scored to make it 6-0.

Walia finished his night with 9 saves on 12 shots against. Steinbach fired 26 in total at the Winkler goaltenders.

The power play finished 0-2 while the penalty kill was 6-7.

Steinbach will wrap up their pre-season schedule against the Niverville Nighthawks on Saturday night at the TG Smith Centre.