In the first meeting of the season, the Steinbach Pistons and the Selkirk Steelers, the top two teams in the East, went head-to-head and it was the team that is chasing down first place, the Pistons, that made the best impression, winning the game 5-1.
Right from puck drop there was a strong indication of the game plan from the visiting Pistons. Strong forechecking forced an early turnover and a deflected point shot clanked off the post but stayed out.
Shift after shift, the Pistons forced turnovers inside the Steelers zone. Time and time again, no matter where the Steelers looked, there was someone in a blue sweater making their lives miserable.
Sam Noad would open the scoring for Steinbach while on a power play. After a battle along the boards, Jamie Fuchs forced a puck to Reece Gault who sent a perfect pass across the ice to a waiting Noad, who wired home his 2nd of the year, making it 1-0 Steinbach.
After the goal, Selkirk finally showed some life and pressured Steinbach into a couple of mistakes that resulted in chances but Christian Green was rock solid, keeping it 1-0 through the first period.
In the second, the line of Brett Kaiser, Connor Paronuzzi and the returning Ty Paisley took over.
Working are in the offensive zone and once again, keeping the Steelers defenders on their heels, that line eventually forced a turnover near the blueline, tore into the zone with expert puck movement and it was Kaiser who was left all alone in front. The 19-year-old displayed elite hands and patience, walking around the goalie in tight and putting a shot up high for his 4th goal of the year. Paronuzzi and Paisley, his first point in his first game back, were given the assists.
On a power play of their own, the Steelers would cut the game to 2-1 but again, Steinbach had an answer.
While on the man advantage, Steinbach worked the puck high in the zone. Noah Szabo fed a pass to Paisley near the top of the faceoff circle. He put a pass to Kaiser in the middle but Kaiser alertly dished it back to Paisley who un-corked a perfect, pin-point laser shot top shelf for his first goal of the year.
"Felt really good to produce", Paisley said after the game. "I'm bagged, though" he said with a laugh. It was Paisley's last point of the night but the 20-year-old had several great looks as the game went on and got better every shift.
Paronuzzi would extend the lead even further with his team leading 9th goal of the year, sending a beautiful shot glove side, to make it 4-1. Kaiser once again factored in, his second assist of the period and third point of the night.
"What a great shot, eh?" Paronuzzi said jokingly after the game. "I couldn't handle the puck earlier in the period, felt like I was a lefty playing right handed, it was brutal. Felt great to get that shot. I was so hyped, I even shhh'ed our crowd that was cheering. I have no idea why I did that, but I did."
After making a statement on the scoreboard, the third period was used to put a physical stamp on the game.
Brayden Barnett made his presence felt earlier and throughout with a couple of thunderous hits. Cole Cairns also got involved, throwing his weight around and flashing that trademark smile.
The hit of the night belonged to Arron Krestanowich.
After the Pistons killed off a penalty, things became very scrambly in the Pistons zone. Selkirk worked the puck around and had Steinbach flustered in coverage. All the confusion led to a great scoring chance with Green down from making a save a split second before but Green never gave up and somehow, from the seat of his pants, managed to fight off another slot shot by Selkirk, turning away the best chance of the night.
As that frantic play continued, the puck came out to the top of the circle and Krestanowich laid a beautiful, bone rattling body check that sent the Steelers player flying and brought the bench to their feet.
The puck was cleared but the buzz for the Pistons remained, thanks to the sensational save by Christian Green and the hit by Krestanowich.
If there was any doubt about the outcome, Fuchs put it away as the 20-year-old crashed the crease after a nice rush by Noad pulled the defenders and goalie to the side of the net before sliding a puck out front for Fuchs to bury for his 4th of the year, capping the game at 5-1. Cale Quamme picked up the bonus assist on the last goal of the game.
A little dust up here and there toward the end but it didn't seem like too many wanted to mess with the likes of Barnett, Cairns or Mathis Laplante, who was a buzzsaw throughout the night.
Christian Green improved to a league best 8-1 after making 34 saves for the victory.
Steinbach's power play was solid going 2/4 while the penalty kill was 2/3.
Saturday night, the Pistons welcome in the Winnipeg Freeze, a team that has been playing their best hockey of late, to the HyLife Centre in La Broquerie.