The Steinbach Pistons pushed their winning streak to 7 games over the weekend as they defeated the Virden Oil Capitals and the Waywayseecappo Wolverines in two very different fashions.

Saturday Night Thriller

Coming off back to back shutouts but missing their leading scorer, the Pistons were able to grind out a 4-3 overtime win over Virden on Saturday night at the TG Smith Centre.

Bradley Schoonbaert, who leads the team and the MJHL  in points was unavailable but his linemate Drew Worrad made up for his absence with a four-point night.

The scoring started when captain Braden Purtill notched his 22nd of the year off a nice feed from Worrad to make it 1-0. Darby Gula also picked up an assist on the power play goal. For Gula, that gave him 99 career points in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

In the second, a beautiful individual effort from Worrad pushed the lead to 2-0 with an unassisted goal just 19 seconds in.

The Oil Caps answered back just 10 seconds later when a point shot deflected off of Tyler Kirkup and past goalie Matthew Thiessen to cut the lead in half.

The Pistons regained their two-goal advantage in the final minute of the frame as Brendan Martin outwaited Virden goalie Dalton Dosch and slid home a backhander to make it 3-1. For Martin, he now has 6 goals on the season with the assists going to Worrad and Declan Graham.

Bending but not breaking, the Oil Capitals pushed back and thanks to Kyle Salaway, tied the game 3-3.

In overtime, Darby Gula took a perfect pass from Worrad and made no mistake for his 10th goal of the year and 100th career point. Will Koop also had an assist on the game-winning goal.

Steinbach's power play went 1-4 while the penalty kill was a strong 2-2. Matthew Thiessen was solid in goal making 32 saves on the night including a couple of shots that were deflected last second.

With the win, the Pistons headed into Sunday on a six-game winning streak.

No Goals For You, But Pancakes For Fans

On Sunday, the Pistons put up a 7 spot and Matt Radomsky pitched his second consecutive shutout in a 7-0 win over the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.

Drew Worrad continued his torrid point producing pace early in the game setting up the first two Pistons goals. The first, a nice play that resulted in Tyson McConnell notching his 13th of the year to make it 1-0. Darby Gula had the other assist on the power play goal.

Just over a minute later, another nice pass from Worrad found the stick of Bradley Schoonbaert and wristed home his 22nd of the year to make it 2-0 Steinbach with less than six minutes played. Austin Heidemann collected an assist on the goal.

Radomsky made a fabulous glove save to preserve the 2-0 lead heading into the second period.

In the middle frame, Radomsky would be tested again as the Wolverines collapsed down around the crease but couldn't get the puck past the outstretched pad of the Winnipeg native and Waywayseecappo remained scoreless.

Seconds after the flurry of saves, Brady Tatro went streaking down the ice, made a nifty move around the Wolverines defender and snapped off a perfect wrist shot to make it 3-0.

I was Tatro's 8th of the year but he was far from done. Tristan Culleton picked up his first point as a member of the Steinbach Pistons and first in the MJHL with an assist. Easton Bennett also had a helper.

The Pistons continued to push and Schoonbaert (23) picked up his second of the game with a power play marker from McConnell and Worrad to make it 4-0.

Tatro (9) scored his second of the game just 44 seconds after Schoonbaert did to make it 5-0 Steinbach. Bennett grabbed his second point of the night on the 5-0 goal.

In the third, Heidemann chipped home a loose puck on the power play as the lead swelled to 6-0. Mark Taraschuk and Will Koop had assists on Heidemann's 16th of the year. The 16 goals and 31 points so far this season are the most by any rookie in the MJHL. (Next closest player is 6 points back.)

The Pistons finished off the scoring when Tatro tipped home a perfect slap-pass from Culleton for his first career MJHL hat-trick. Tatro now has 10 goals on the year. Jack Johnson also had an assist on the 7-0 goal.

A scary moment late in the game as the Wolverines on the power play, a point shot caught Pistons defender Jarett Lalli up in the face. The Bemidji product was down briefly but did get up on his own and left the ice with no assistance. 

On the play, Radomsky was able to make another unbelievable acrobatic save to keep it 7-0 and preserve his second straight shutout and 7th straight win for the Pistons.

The special teams for Steinbach were particularly good finishing 3-4 on the power play and 4-4 on the penalty kill. Shots finished 36-30 in favour of the Pistons.

Smiles For Miles

With his first three-goal performance in the MJHL, Tatro's smile could be seen from all the way in his hometown of Bemidji, Minnesota. Although, it wasn't just the goals that had him happy. "It was a big team win tonight," the 19-year-old winger said after the game. "We stepped it up here. After that losing streak, we evaluated our play and came back hard. Now we have a big game against Virden Thursday."

Tatro also attributes the team success to something the coaching staff has been preaching. "Keeping our game simple," Tatro said from just outside the lock-room. "We want to move pucks north, move pucks behind their defenders and always outworking the opponent."

With the last game before the holiday break set for Thursday on the road, Tatro and the Pistons know they have one more job to do before they can take a much need break. "Coach already talked about it, we can't be thinking about the break yet. Virden's a good team and we have to be ready."

Keeping The Door Shut

Matt Radomsky has not allowed a goal in 128:11 seconds. The franchise record for shutout streak belongs to Nick Deery who had 146:00 in 2013/14.

The Pistons team record for shutouts in a season is 7, set back in 2014-15. Between Radomsky and Matthew Thiessen, they are already at 6 combined this year.

Up Next

Thursday, December 21st - @ Virden Oil Capitals 

CHRISTMAS BREAK

Saturday, December 30th - Vs. Selkirk Steelers

Sunday, December 1st - @Selkirk Steelers (puck drop at 4:00 pm)