Stride Place will be taken over by the two best teams in the MJHL tonight. The Portage Terriers are back on home ice as they welcome the Steinbach Pistons to town for what will be the fifth meeting between these two squads this season.
The Terriers currently lead the season series 3-1 and will only play the Pistons one more time, which will be the last game of the regular season.
Portage has a two-point lead on Steinbach in the standings and has come away with victories over the Pistons in three consecutive meetings.
Local forward Ryan Botterill will look to keep his hot streak rolling tonight. He has 12 goals since the beginning of December and now places sixth in the MJHL in total goals with 21.
Tonight's matchup will see the league's best power-play (Steinbach) go up against the MJHL's top penalty-killing unit (Portage). The Terriers have won the special teams battle through four games as they have converted 26.3 per cent of their power-play opportunities against Steinbach, while the Pistons have only capitalized on 19 per cent of their chances.
Close games between these two squads have been a good omen for the Terriers, as the only blowout in the season series was the one game where Steinbach prevailed.
Your final opportunity to see the top two MJHL teams go head-to-head at Stride Place in the regular season goes down tonight at 7:30.
Tale of the Tape
Record
Terriers: 28-8-2
Pistons: 28-10-0
Team Leaders
Terriers: Hayden Lacquette (12G, 26A, 38Pts)
Pistons: Travis Hensrud (26G, 24A, 50Pts)
Goaltenders
Terriers: Jayden Catellier (2.94GAA, 0.896SV%)
Pistons: Cole Plowman (2.17GAA, 0.916SV%)