The Portage Terriers are back at Stride Place today for their second outing in a three-game home stand. The Dogs are welcoming the Selkirk Steelers to town tonight, who have been playing some of their best hockey as of late.
In February, the Steelers have gone 6-0-1, with one of those wins coming against the Terriers. This recent surge has Selkirk just one point back of the Niverville Nighthawks for the final playoff spot in the MJHL's East Division.
Portage goaltender Bailey Monteith says they know what the Steelers are capable of.
"Selk is playing some good hockey right now," Monteith continues. "They're taking some teams that, early in the year, you might not think they would be. We have to go into this with the same mentality we had against Winkler. That's going to be a playoff game for them, and it has to be for us too. Playing against desperate teams, we're going to be doing that in the playoffs as well. The rest of these ten games are all playoff tune-ups."
With less than a month left in the regular season, the Terriers are sitting in first place in the MJHL standings. There's a six-point separation between the Steinbach Pistons and the Terriers for that top spot. Monteith notes while they want to finish first, they aren't putting too much stock into the standings right now.
"Honestly, I think we're just going game-by-game. We're not too worried about who's ahead and who's below," Monteith explains. "We're just going into every game with a fresh mindset, knowing what we need to do to get the win."
Monteith and the Terriers will be on the ice earlier than usual today, with puck drop set for 3:30 at Stride Place.
Tale of the Tape
Record
Terriers: 36-10-2
Steelers: 20-23-5
Team Leaders
Terriers: Ryan Botterill (34G, 19A, 53Pts)
Steelers: Lucas Brennan (39G, 36A, 75Pts)
Goaltenders
Terriers: Bailey Monteith (2.78GAA, 0.900SV%)
Steelers: Hunter Tarves (3.26GAA, 0.906SV%)