The Steinbach Pistons rallied from a 3-1 deficit and beat the Winnipeg Freeze 6-3 at the HyLife Centre in La Broquerie. Brett Kaiser scored twice while singles went to Noah Szabo, Brayden Berg, Brody Green and Mathis Laplante. Mitchell’s Job Peters opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal 1:49 into the first period for the Freeze. Merik Boles and Luke Mackenzie did the goal scoring and Raiden LeGall stopped all 24 shots he faced in the Niverville Nighthawks 2-0 victory over the Winnipeg Blues.
The Niverville Clippers and Springfield Xtreme were winners in the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League. The Clippers defeated the Mitchell Mustangs 9-1 and lead the West Division with a 6-1 record. Springfield blanked the Red River Mudbugs 7-0. The Xtreme lead the East with a 7-0 record and have shutout their opposition four times this season.
Team Manitoba will play its preliminary round opener today (5 p.m.) against British Columbia at the 2024 National Women’s U18 Hockey Championship in Quispamsis, New Brunswick. Eastman Selects goaltender Addison Tomes of Winnipeg and forward Sophia Heidinger of Winnipeg are on Team Manitoba’s roster along with defender Linnea Misner of Cooks Creek who plays for Balmoral Hall Blazers.
The defending champion Ste. Anne Aces, Springfield Winterhawks and Notre Dame Hawks were winners in the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League Saturday night. Matt Bailey had two goals and four assists as the Aces defeated the Warren Mercs 11-4. Eric Pushka scored the go-ahead goal 5:38 into the third period as the Winterhawks won their first ever SEMHL game 5-4 over the Morden Bombers. Jeff Michiels had two goals and three assists, and the Hawks defeated the Portage Islanders 7-2.
Carson Bjarnason made 33 saves and the Brandon Wheat Kings shutdown the Medicine Hat Tigers 3-0 at Westoba Place. Caleb Hadland scored 3:14 into the first period and Quinn Mantei and Dominik Petr added empty net goals late in the third.
The Manitoba Moose lost 4-1 to the Milwaukee Admirals at Canada Life Centre. Henri Nikkanen had the lone goal for the Moose.
Canada’s Rachel Homan won gold at the 2024 Pan Continental Curling Championships in Lacombe, Alberta. Homan, vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes defeated Eunji Gim of South Korea 6-5 in the women’s gold medal game. Xiaoming Xu of China downed Shinya Abe of Japan 6-4 in the men’s gold medal game.