The Steinbach Pistons have started the pre-season with a pair of losses, one in overtime to the Winkler Flyers while the other was a one-goal loss to the Niverville Nighthawks.
No Quit But No Win
On Friday night, the Pistons took a rookie-filled lineup to Winkler as the young group battled back from being down a goal twice but in the end, gave up the overtime winner with less than ten seconds to go, losing 3-2.
A Flyers power play in the later stages of the first period gave the home side a 1-0 lead as the teams went into the first intermission.
In the second, Steinbach managed to get the game back to even on a power play of their own. Some good work to keep the zone eventually resulted in Luke Bogart getting some space to walk down the boards and direct a shot on goal. The puck deflected off a Flyer in front and in, knotting the game up 1-1. Eric Cote and Ryan McDonald each had the helpers on the first Piston pre-season marker.
The third period saw the Flyers strike quickly less than two minutes in, regaining their one-goal lead but Carson White managed to even things up with his first of the pre-season, scoring will just over two minutes left in the game, bringing it back to 2-2. Eric Cote and McDonald again each picked up an assist.
Winkler would send the home fans home happy scoring with just 9 seconds left in overtime to seal the 3-2 win.
For Steinbach, goalies Alex Glofka and Noel Friedman split time between the pipes.
"You could see the gears grinding, especially early on in the game," Pistons Head Coach Paul Dyck said post-game. "We adjusted. I thought the first 10 minutes we were on our heels but then we settled in. We played in spurts. I thought there were some inconsistencies in our game. But overall, not bad. It was eye-opening for our guys and I hope they learned a lot."
Sleepy Second Sinks Steinbach
In their second contest of the weekend, the Pistons jumped out to a lead but couldn't hold it as the Nighthawks stormed back to eventually win 5-4.
Early in the game, it was all Steinbach.
Finding the back of the net first was Mathis Laplante who showed off a good power-forward move driving the net before finishing on the backhand, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. Jaxon Grosider had the lone assist.
Later in the frame, rookie Gavin Holod took a perfect little feed from Ryan McDonald and hammered home his first of the game to make it 2-0. Second-year Piston Cole Cairns picked up a secondary assist.
Steinbach starter Zach Burleigh wasn't overly tested but for one breakaway which he calmly and cooly snatched out of the air, keeping the Nighthawks scoreless through 20 minutes.
Dawson Zeller managed to get the Nighthawks on the board a mere 44 seconds into the second period taking a great feed and finishing for his first of the exhibition season. Avery Laliberte and Kelby Diehl had the assists.
Noel Friedman came in after Burleigh finished half the game and Friedman was quickly tested but managed a couple of strong saves.
The Nighthawks stuck with it and used their speed to generate offence that helped them grab the lead.
Caleb Lepitre tied the game after snapping home a loose puck in the slot fo this first from Regan Anderson.
A few minutes later, it was Adam Vigfusson giving Niverville the 3-2 lead.
That lead would last only second thanks to Steinbach's Shane Burns who went blazing into the Nighthawks zone and ripped a perfect shot to make it 3-3. Thomas Gerum was given credit for the lone assist.
The explosion of offence was not done yet.
With under three-minutes to go, Lepitre struck again as he put Niverville up 4-3 with assists to Jase Konecsni and Anderson.
Once again, Steinbach battled back with Holod notching his second, this time on a power play, from Reece Gault and Cole Carins.
Early in the third, the Nighthawks Noah Asmundson sniped a perfect shot that gave the Nighthawks a lead once again, one they would not give up and they skated off with a 5-4 victory.
"I thought we got better in that first period", Paul Dyck said after the contest. "In the second half, we were better than in the first. We built up a 2-0 lead and it's not something you want to give up. I did not love our second period. We made life very difficult on ourselves. Our puck management was not very good, we were looking to make low-percentage plays, we didn't get pucks deep and our defender made some ill-advised step-ups, too. We were on our heels and it felt like it was all self-induced. One of the messages to our guys was not having to make the highlight reel play every shift. Some pucks just need to get deep or get out, you may not get a scoring chance but you can fight another day."
One area Dyck was pleased with throughout the game was the special teams. "Power play generated some good looks, considering power play and penalty kill are things we haven't really worked on. Guys like Jackson Kostiuk and McDonald, guys who will be apart or the kill have a pretty good sense of things."
Gavin Holod and Shane Burns were two individuals who stuck out for the staff. "I liked Gavin's whole game tonight," Dyck said from outside the locker room at the CRRC. "He was competing as a young guy. He had a heck of a shot on the one goal. Burnsie was everything you'd expect. He was physical, had a great read, and finished on the two-on-one. He's a competitive guy but he's going to put up some numbers this year."
What's Next
Dyck joked after the game that there's still quite a bit to work on with a week of practice looming before more exhibition games. "Don't ask me right now because there are a lot of things we can work on", the coach said with a smile. "It's about continuing to chip away at things structurally. Building expectations on how we play, and how we defend. More than anything, it's about getting guys accustomed to how we do things. We'll build drills to reinforce that."
Steinbach has two more pre-season games, one on Friday night in Winkler and the other on Saturday night in Niverville.