It was complete domination from puck drop to the final buzzer as the Steinbach Pistons systematically and categorically utterly dismantled the Winnipeg Blues, winning their tenth game in a row 10-0 on Tuesday night.
Right from the very first shift, Steinbach went to work, forechecking, forcing turnovers, and building momentum. A theme for the evening.
Jamie Fuchs, Sam Noad, and Bryaden Barnett owned the first half of the first period.
Just over two minutes in, pressure by Barnett forced the Blues to panic and give the puck to Noad, who hit Fuchs in front with a perfect slap-pass for his 7th of the year, 1-0 Steinbach. Barnett was a big part of the goal helping Fuchs turn the puck over eventually leading to the goal, but didn't get credit for an assist.
Four minutes later, another strong forechecking shift by that line produced yet another giveaway by the young Blues team, this time leading to a Luke Bogart point shot that found its way through a maze of bodies in front, giving the 18-year-old his second goal of the year. Barnett and Noad would get the assists on the 2-0 goal.
That line factored in yet again as Barnett pressured at the offensive blue line, and made the Winnipeg club give the puck to him. He then dished it over to Noad who then hit a streaking Fuchs for his second of the game and 8th of the year.
16 seconds after making it 3-0, that line would celebrate another Fuchs goal.
Noah Szabo started the play by dumping the puck into the zone after the faceoff at center ice. Fuchs and Noad went in on the forecheck, sending the Blues defenders into panic mode. Winnipeg couldn't clear the zone, as Szabo kept the puck in at the point. His point shot was stopped but Noad was on the doorstep where he pounced on the loose puck, gave it to Barnett along the side of the net and the 20-year-old pushed it into the blue paint for Fuchs to clean up. The 20-year-old from British Columbia scored his third of the game and 9th of the campaign, capping off one of the strongest first halves of a period for any line in Pistons history.
The trio would combine for 10 points in less than 10 minutes of hockey in the first period. The quick strike scoring chased the Blues starter after giving up 4 goals on 16 shots.
After such an extreme offensive output in the first half, the rest of the first was a little quieter. Steinbach owned the puck, dominated the offensive zone, and didn't give up much of anything at all defensively.
Zach Burleigh got the start for Steinbach and while he wasn't overly busy, he did have to make one tricky save on a deflection but he calmly and cooly kicked out the ride pad and squashed any hope of the Blues getting a little closer.
In the dying seconds of the first, Bogart hit Kostiuk with a pass as the dynamic playmaker was streaking into the neutral zone. With the puck bouncing, Kostiuk hit Brayden Berg who was cruising into the Blues zone along with the late-arriving Brody Green, making it a 2 on 1 rush. Berg slid the pass over to the former Blue and he scored against his former team, giving Steinbach a 5-0 lead.
The final minute marker was Green's 9th of the year. With one of the assists, Berg extended his point streak to 6 games while Kostiuk extended his point streak to 4 games. Green himself now has points in 6 games.
While the second period did not have as much offense as the first, Steinbach just kept rolling along.
The line of Fuchs, Noad, and Barnett got the results in the first period, but the line of Cole Cairns, Ryan McDonald, and Gavin Holod deserve a lot of credit for helping set up that success because of the hard work they did in the shifts before Steinbach would score.
That trio would get rewarded in a big way in the middle frame.
It started with McDonald getting his stick on a Blues attempted dump-in from the Pistons blue line. Because of the presence of the 18-year-old, the Blues didn't get the puck deep, it ended up on the stick of Cairns who marched through the neutral zone, walked around a Blues defender with a sweet little outside-inside toe drag then sniped far side to make it 6-0.
For the 18-year-old known as "Ice Spice", it was his 4th of the year.
On a power play later in the frame, the Blues gave Connor Paronuzzi way too much time and space as the 19-year-old playmaker worked his way from the top of the zone into the danger territory, sifted a puck down for Mathis Laplante who tried to stuff one in but while he was stopped, Berg was right there to knock home his 9th of the year, extending the lead further to 7-0.
The 19-year-old from Minnesota extended his point streak earlier in the game and by adding a goal to go with his previous assist, Berg is now up to 3 multi-point games in his last 6 and 5 multi-point games on the season.
For all the goals scored on the night, the 8-0 marker may be the one that's remembered the most. That's because it was the first MJHL goal for Gavin Holod.
Great work again by the Cairns kept a puck in the Blues zone where McDonald went to work below the goalline, outmuscling two Blues players for the puck. McDonald's hard work paid off as he won the battle and got the puck to Holod who was left all alone in the slot. He wired home his first-ever goal.
The reaction from teammates on the ice and from the bench told the story of just how special that goal was and it wasn't lost on the 17-year-old MJHL rookie.
"It felt amazing, there is no other feeling like it", Holod said after the period. The goal was special but the reaction from his teammates meant just as much. "There's just no better feeling, I love. Our team is very supportive, it's great, it was really awesome."
Shots were 39-9 Steinbach after 40 minutes and they took an 8-0 lead into the third.
A pretty passing play would lead to the 9-0 goal approaching the midway point of the third. Noad once again used his strong legs to bully his way into the Blues zone. He dropped a pass off to Kostiuk who dropped a behind-the-back pass to Reece Gault. After making the pass, Kostiuk went to the net with his stick on the ice and Gault hit him with a perfect pass. Kostiuk's deflection up into the top shelf gives the 18-year-old dynamo 8 goals on the year.
Fuchs, who got the scoring parade started with a hat-trick in the first period, capped the scoring off with his 4th of the night and 10th of the year as he cashed in on a Krestanovwich shot which produced a rebound, stretching the lead to 10-0. Barnett secured his 4th assist of the night on the last goal of the evening.
Winnipeg rarely threatened and at the sound of the final buzzer, Burleigh picked up his 2nd shutout of the year, stopping all 12 shots he faced.
Steinbach's power play was 1-4 while the penalty kill was 2-2.
Shots finished 56-12 for the Pistons.
Steinbach will continue their road games as they visit the Niverville Nighthawks on Friday night, followed up with a visit to Winkler on Saturday night.