Great goaltending and a solid defensive effort led the Portage Terriers to a 3-0 win over the Steinbach Pistons on Wednesday night.
Portage came out of the gate on fire. Scott Cousins was sprung on a breakaway, and he went high blocker side to open the scoring two minutes into the game. Steinbach started to get their feet under them and upped the pressure, but the score stayed 1-0 Portage heading into the intermission.
Midway through the second period the Terriers scored their second of the night. Tristan Gravenor split the defence and snapped a nice shot past Pistons goalie Christian Green. 2-0 Portage after 2.
Steinbach looked like they were on a mission in the third period. They sent 17 shots at Mitchell Kathler, which doesn’t count those that were blocked, and he was able to stop them all. Will McKay scored into the empty net to make it 3-0.
Special teams weren’t much of a factor as Portage played a disciplined game. They were 2/2 on the penalty kill and 0/1 on the power play.
With the win the Terriers are one point behind Steinbach and Winkler for first place. Portage is on the road Friday night in Swan Valley.