The Portage Terriers are hoping to get back to their winning ways tonight on home ice. The Dogs will be taking on the Winkler Flyers for the first time this season tonight at Stride Place.
The Terriers are coming off of their first loss of the year on Sunday against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines where they dropped a 5-2 decision. The Dogs will be looking to clean up their special teams play in this one as they gave up three power-play goals in the loss.
"I think the big thing for this game is just discipline. We took some unnecessary penalties (last game)," Forward Matt Wisener explains. "If we can eliminate that, use our skill up front, and play 5-on-5 I think that'll give us a good shot to win."
Austin Peters has been hot offensively for the Dogs as the 18-year-old forward leads the team in goals with three and has a point in every game so far this season.
Winkler enters this contest with just one loss on the season as well and a goal differential of +6, however, the Dogs will have the opportunity to take advantage of the Flyers on special teams. Winkler has gone 0/8 on the power-play this season and has a penalty kill percentage of 74.2% while also leading the MJHL in penalty minutes.
Wisener describes the challenges Winkler presents.
"They're big and physical. They work hard every shift, so it'll be a battle. Their team has a very similar style to last year, so we can expect a lot of similarities between last year and this year," Wisener continues. "It'll be a test but we'll work hard and see what happens."
The Terriers will be looking for a little bit of redemption against the Flyers this year as they went 1-7 in the eight contests they played against the club last year. Puck drop for tonight's contest is set for 7:30 at Stride Place.