The Portage Terriers hit the road for their first game after the Christmas break this evening. The Terriers lost a pair of games to end their schedule before the holidays, both in extra time.
The first loss came at the hands of the Selkirk Steelers 5-4 in overtime, when Rocco La Cara scored on a breakaway that gave goaltender Jayden Catellier little chance to stop.
The second was in Niverville, a shootout defeat that went 8 rounds.
Steinbach ended their first half by rattling off three consecutive wins, 2-1 over the Winnipeg Freeze, 7-1 over the Winnipeg Blues, and 4-3 over the Winkler Flyers.
At this point in the season, Steinbach has won 3 of the 4 meetings between these two teams.
Portage played a league-high 35 games before the holiday break and is hoping the time off will have their team well-rested and ready for the final 23 games of the season.
Steinbach played 31 games and has 27 games remaining in their schedule.
Special teams have been a strength of the Pistons on both sides, with their powerplay hovering around 20% and their penalty kill up over 90%.
The Terriers penalty kill has been a strength, especially on the road where it sits at 90.7%, but the powerplay has struggled over the first 35 games, scoring on just 15% of their opportunities, a historic low for the team.
Puck drop is 7pm in La Broquerie. Tune in on CFRY 920AM to hear all the action!
Tale of the Tape
Portage: 21-7-4-3
Steinbach: 24-4-3-0
Head to Head (Portage's record)
This season: 1-3-0-0
Last 5 season: 6-11-1-0