The Steinbach Pistons were dealt their first home loss of the playoffs by the Virden Oil Capitals 2-1 on Friday night.

Having not seen each other since early February, both teams took the first few minutes of the game to size one another up. Both goalies were pressed into action a few times during the opening 20 minutes but Matthew Thiessen for Steinbach and Riley McVeigh for Virden stood tall putting up 0's in the first. 

The Pistons best chance came shorthanded as Braden Purtill went in on a clear breakaway but was turned away by McVeigh. 

Steinbach had a pair of power plays but failed to generate much while the lone Oil Capitals man advantage didn't even generate a shot on goal.

After the first, Steinbach held a lead in shots 11-9.

In the second, the Pistons came within inches of getting on the board first on two separate occasions.

First, a point shot from Mark Wilson deflected off a stick of a Virden defender and hit the unsuspecting McVeigh and stayed out. The second chance came from another point shot as Declan Graham ripped a wrister that made it through traffic in front but rang off the post.

A nice rush by Virden forward Riley Zimmer resulted in the games first goal as he cut wide on a Pistons back-checker before making a strong move to the net and firing a perfect shot up high to give the Oil Caps a 1-0 lead.

In the third, the Oil Caps took advantage of a misplayed puck at their own blueline and went streaking in on a two on one. Jeran Knorr floated a perfect pass to Hunter Cloutier who buried the puck past Thiessen, giving Virden a 2-0 lead.

The Pistons responded just 90 seconds later when Mark Taraschuk broke in on a solo rush and fired a puck that deflected off a Virden stick and in for the defender's 4th goal of the playoffs, giving Steinbach some life and a 2-1 game. Brady Tatro and Easton Bennett picked up the assists.

That's as close as Steinbach would get as Virden just worked the clock down without giving up much in the way of scoring chances and finished with a big road win 2-1, grabbing a 1-0 series lead heading back to Virden on Sunday.

Coaches Notes

Head coach Paul Dyck was clearly frustrated with the lack of emotion and effort from his team, mainly the forwards. "I thought we didn't have much at all tonight," he said post-game. "I thought our D played well, they were engaged but I don't think many of our forwards were. We need to be better at this stage. I expected more jump. It's the first game of the finals."

Captains Thoughts

Braden Purtill echoed his coach's frustrations. "It wasn't good enough. We showed a little compete in the third and resilience in the third, but it wasn't good enough. In the first two periods, we got to come out with more tenacity. We didn't show up for the game and it cost us."

He continued, "they just wanted it more then we did. They came in prepared, you've got to give them props for that. They used their speed, used our mistakes to their advantage and they got pucks in deep and towards the net. We need to learn from that for next game."

Players and staff have been preaching 'level 0' all season long and if there is one positive thing in Purtill's mind, "the good thing is, it's right at the start of the series. Obviously, we need to think about what we did wrong tonight and learn from it. In the morning, come to the rink with a new attitude and work on what we didn't do right this game and learn going forward into Sunday.

#PrayForHumboldt

The hockey community was shaken by the tragic events that happened in Saskatchewan on Friday night. 

The bus of the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League was involved in a serious collision that resulted in fatalities.

Pistons coach Paul Dyck spoke about the terrible events after the game and was understandably shaken and emotional. "It's an absolute tragedy. We found out before the game and it kind of puts everything into perspective. All I can think about is the Humboldt Broncos. The players, the coaching staff and their families.

Former Piston Matthieu Gomercic was involved in the crash but survived with non-life threatening injuries.