A strong first period propelled the Portage Terriers over the Selkirk Steelers 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Special teams were busy in this chippy affair, with 18 minor penalties and a total of 94 penalty minutes handed out. Portage went 1/7 with the man advantage while the Steelers were 1/11.
Portage jumped out to an early lead in the first three minutes of the game when forward Matthew Biros gloved down a rebound as he was driving to the net and tapped it in past Jack Hodgins. Then, midway through the frame, they would score two goals a minute apart. First, Cam Bullinger banged in a loose puck in front of the net followed by Alyandro De Leon who put home a beautiful backhand goal on a 2-on-0 breakaway. Bullringer now has points in seven straight games. Tayem Gislason then scored his second goal in as many games on the power play as the first period was coming to a close.
Selkirk started the second period with a goalie change. Noel Olsonawski came into the game after Hodgins stopped seven of 11 shots he faced in the first. The play started to get rough in the second with both teams taking liberties. Jayden Catellier played well in net for Portage shutting the door in the middle stanza.
With more players wearing full-face shields this season, fighting has been down. However, in the third period, there was a line brawl and a fighting major was handed out to Nathan Lenoski and Luke Wagner. Shortly after the scrum, Selkirk’s captain, Mathieu Moreira, sniped a perfect shot over Catellier’s shoulder to ruin the shutout bid. The game remained physical but no one else could score.
With the win, the Terriers now move within one point of Winkler for second in the East. Portage is back on the ice Friday in Dauphin against the Kings.
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