A stretch of four goals in the first nine minutes of the first period was all the Steinbach Pistons needed as they coasted past the Neepawa Natives 8-2 on Friday night.

It was the first time in two weeks the Pistons were on home ice and they came out flying for the hometown fans. Austin Heidemann scored less than two minutes into the game as he buried his 14th off an unbelievable pass from Drew Worrad. Bradley Schoonbaert had the other assist on the opening goal.

Just over two minutes later, captain Braden Purtill snapped home a beautiful wrist shot top shelf to make it 2-0. Darby Gula and Will Koop picked up the helpers on Purtill's 18th of the year and first of the night.

The scoring continued as a hard-working shift from Koop and Daniel McKitrick resulted in Koop collecting his second point of the night on his 14th goal of the year. Jaret Lalli notched an assist on the 3-0 goal.

The scoring parade continued when Brady Tatro ripped off a beauty shot to make it 4-0 Steinbach. Tatro has 7 goals for the year. Jack Johnson and Mark Taraschuk had the helpers.

The period scoring was done but there was still fireworks to come as Pistons forward Brendan Martin dropped the gloves with Breaden Binda for a wild fight. Both players were swinging hard and gave it everything they had, which had both benches standing in support.

The fight would be considered a draw but a show of respect from both players afterwards as they gave each other a tap on the shoulder afterwards. Both players were shown the gate and both teams would finish minus one forward.

In the second period, Neepawa did have some chances but Piston's goalie Matthew Thiessen was rock steady making several tricky saves look easy, giving his team a chance to convert on the power play, not once but twice.

Gula (8) rifled home a wrist shot from the blueline to push the lead to 5-0 from Purtill and Worrad. 

Less then a minute later Taraschuk found the back of the net for the 6th time this year from Mark Wilson and Heidemann. 

Steinbach was in total control heading into the final period up 6-0.

With the lopsided score, the Pistons took their foot off the gas and made some loose plays that resulted in a couple goals from the Natives. The first was a shorthanded marker from Mackenzie Belinski followed up by a Justin Metcalf marker to make it a 6-2 game.

The Pistons got their legs back in the last five minutes of the third and potted a couple more goals. 

Bradley Schoonbaert notched his team-leading 21st of the year from Worrad followed quickly by Purtills second of the night and 19th of the year, unassisted to make it an 8-2 final.

Steinbach had the edge in shots 34-20 as Thiessen finished with 18 saves. The power play clicked at 50% finishing 3-6 while the penalty kill was perfect going 5-5.

Coaches Notes

Head coach Paul Dyck was pleased with lots of what he saw from the bench, most notably the penalty kill and the play of captain Braden Purtill through the whole game.

"We had a good PK in Swan over the weekend," Dyck said post-game. "Today, I thought we competed hard and were in the right areas. We look at the numbers and guys are not happy. It's a sense of pride to have a good penalty kill, especially for the guys that play that role. They want it to be better and I thought we did that tonight."

When it comes to the play of the captain, Dyck had high praise. "He's a leader by example. He does everything. A goal, blocking shots, back-checking. You want to follow a guy like that, he just makes everyone want to work as hard as he is, every shift."

'Always Gotta Be Ready'

Drew Worrad, who finished with 3 assists on the night, had a highlight reel helper to start the game as he undressed a pair of Neepawa defenders before drawing the goalie towards him, then sliding the puck over to a teammate for a wide-open cage. Dyck continues to be impressed by the 20-year-olds ability to be a top playmaker. "He's the kinda guy you always have to be ready when he has the puck. He has the ability to make a pass you don't expect. He has great hands and sees the ice so well."

Up Next

The Pistons host the OCN Blizzard on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7:30 pm at the TG Smith Centre.

The MJHL Showcase is set to get underway Monday but the Pistons don't see action until Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 vs the Swan Valley Stampeders. It's considered a home game for the Pistons.

The second game of the showcase is against the Dauphin Kings which is played at 3:00 Wednesday and is considered a road game for Steinbach.