The first-round series between the Steinbach Pistons and Winkler Flyers was back and forth for all seven games, coming down to the wire but when the smoke cleared, it was the Pistons coming out on top 4-2 to move on to round two.
Coming off back-to-back losses, the Pistons felt they had more to give. They used the electric energy from a packed TG Smith Centre to come out flying and opened the scoring with under a minute and a half played.
After working the puck around the offensive zone, Langley Kruggel managed to keep a puck in at the blue line and fire a shot from the point that beat the Flyers goalie to make it 1-0. For Kruggel, who's been a beast for the Pistons all series long, it was his first goal of the postseason.
Shortly after the goal was scored, the four officials met at center ice to discuss if there was goaltender interference on the play. It was ruled a good goal and Steinbach took the lead.
Winkler had a couple of power-play chances to tie the game but strong goaltending from Dominik Wasik and key blocks by the Pistons defenders, kept the home side up by a goal.
The biggest play defensively of the period came from Spence Penner, who swatted away a loose puck just before a Flyer player was going to pump it into the goal. Penner's goal-saver kept it 1-0 Pistons through the first.
In the second period, both teams went back and forth, looking to build momentum, trading big hits, and working hard to put pucks toward the net.
Near the midway point, it looked as though a Winkler defender stepped up at the redline to make a check on a Pistons forward which should have negated a pending icing. Instead, the play was blown down and the faceoff was set back inside Steinbach's zone.
The Flyers used the advantage to change lines when the Pistons couldn't, won a puck battle, fought to the front of the net, and squeaked one through Wasik and in to tie the game 1-1.
Steinbach was able to answer back before the end of the frame after an excellent faceoff win by Kirk Mullen, the puck went to the stick of Ty Paisley who fired a shot that beat the Flyers netminder to restore the Piston's one-goal lead.
Paisley's second of the playoffs put Steinbach up 2-1 and that's how the period would come to a close.
In the third, it was a Flyers defender working the puck down low, keeping the play alive before going to the front of the net where he was rewarded with a rebound goal to knot the game up 2-2 with less than five minutes gone in the period.
Steinbach was called for a penalty and sent out the penalty kill unit in a critical point, tie game in the third period. The penalty killers stepped up big time and managed to kill off the bulk of the minor penalty before David Cote was interfered with, putting the teams to four on four for a few seconds before the Pistons would go to a power play of their own.
On the man advantage, a clean faceoff win by Landon Roberts got the puck back to Ty Paisley who fed a pass to rookie defender Warren Clark. Clark walked the line looking for a passing or shooting lane. Once he found a little room, he fired a puck from the point that went off the post and in to make it 3-2 Steinbach.
The crowd erupted as the team celebrated Clark's first of the playoffs and with just over eleven minutes left in the third, Steinbach was back up by a goal.
Unlike in games past when they had the lead, the Pistons didn't sit back. They forced the Flyers up and down the ice. They were physical, smart, methodical, and strong. Clearing the zone, blocking shots, and paying the price, the Pistons buckled down and got their one-goal lead into the final two minutes.
With 1:20 to go in the third period, the net empty for Winkler, the Pistons were called for a penalty which would give Winkler a 6-on-4 opportunity to tie the game.
As the Flyers came out of their time out, the Pistons managed to scramble the ensuing faceoff. Winkler moved the puck around the zone and went to the point where the defender fired a puck that was blocked again by Spencer Penner. The puck sat in front of Penner for what felt like an eternity. Everyone froze, except for Penner who calmly got up, corraled the puck, and fired it out of the zone for a key clear.
Running out of time, the Flyers pushed toward the Piston's zone but Davin Griffin was there to stop the oncoming charge, helped free the puck up to a streaking Travis Hensrud who fired it into the open net, sealing the Piston's victory and punching their ticket to round two of the MJHL Playoffs.
The empty net shorthanded goal was Hensrud's third of the playoffs.
Wasik made some huge stops throughout the game, finishing with 32 saves for his 4th playoff win.
Coming into the game, the Piston's power play struggled but as Assistant Coach Calvin Bugyik said pre-game, "it's not always a matter of how many, it's a matter of when. We could go 1 for 8 but that one could be a huge one at a big moment."
While they didn't get 8 power plays, they did get 3 and managed to score the game-winning goal on it.
The penalty kill was spectacular going 6 for 6.
Steinbach will take on the Swan Valley Stampeders in round 2 which is expected to start Friday at the TG Smith Centre. The Stamps knocked out the defending MJHL Champion Dauphin Kings 4-2.