Portage Terriers

A quick start propelled the Portage Terriers past the Virden Oil Capitals 4-2 on Sunday night. Special teams was a big factor throughout the evening with Portage going 2/7 on the power play.

Alyandro De Leon started the game off with a bang for the Terriers. Less than three minutes into the game he picked off a pass at the Virden blue line, walked down the slot and beat Oil Capital goalie Eric Reid. Midway through the period Gabriel Laflamme knocked home a rebound on the power play to make it 2-0 Portage.

In a likely preview of the first round of the playoffs, the Portage Terriers beat the Winkler Flyers 2-1 on Friday night.

A tight checking defensive battle saw momentum swing back and forth throughout the game. Portage got some great scoring chances early in the first and then finally broke the deadlock. Parker Scherr scored on a point shot ten seconds into the first Terrier power play of the night. Winkler responded a few minutes later when the MJHL’s leading scorer, Dalton Andrew, blasted home a power play goal past Gavin Renwick. 1-1 after 1.

An exciting back and forth affair ended in the Portage Terriers’ favour Saturday night as they beat the Swan Valley Stampeders 6-5 in overtime.

The Terriers dominated the chances and time of attack but it wasn’t reflected in the close score. It was due in large part to solid goaltending from Stampeder goalie Kyle Abrahamson. The Terriers out shot Swan Valley 60-29.

The Portage Terriers came from behind to beat the Winkler Flyers on Friday night, 3-2 in a shootout.

Nathan Lenoski played the hero scoring the game tying goal with time winding down and then the winner in the shootout. Portage started the game strong and opened the scoring midway through the first. Gabriel Laflamme tipped a point shot from Ashton Fishley that trickled past Winkler goalie Liam Ernst. The Terriers then took three straight penalties and killed them off successfully. 1-0 Portage after 1.

Despite scoring first, the Portage Terriers couldn’t fend off the Waywayseecappo Wolverines on Tuesday night, falling 2-1.

The teams traded chances in the first period with Portage scoring first. Nolan Nenow went end to end to score a nice goal under the glove of Wolverine goalie Kaiden Kirkwood. The Terriers’ power play had opportunities to increase their lead but they couldn’t bury the puck. They finished the night 0/4 with the man advantage.

The Portage Terriers held off a late push from the OCN Blizzard on Sunday night to win 3-2. The Terriers did it in style, wearing special jerseys bought by the Portage Professional Firefighters Local 1079 in support of Central Plains Cancer Services. Over $7,000 was raised for CPCS between the jersey auction and rainbow auction.

The Portage Terriers started slow but finished strong as they beat the Winnipeg Blues 7-3 on Sunday night.

Penalty trouble was the downfall of the Terriers in the first period. Every time Portage found the back of the net the Blues responded with a power play goal. Terrier captain Tayem Gislason was moved to forward for the game, but was on the blueline for the power play when he opened the scoring with his 9th of the season. Evan Gradt made a nice move off the wall and snapped a shot past Jayden Catellier seven minutes later.

A two goal lead wasn’t enough for the Portage Terriers to hold off the Neepawa Titans on Friday night as they fell 5-4 in a shootout.

History was made on Wednesday night when the Portage Terriers beat the Winnipeg Blues 8-3 at Stride Place. The win was the 671st regular season victory of Terrier head coach and GM Blake Spiller’s career, breaking the record previously held by Doug Stokes.

The new year started with a thud for the Portage Terriers who lost their first game of the 2024 4-1 Friday night to the Steinbach Pistons. Special teams were a big part of the night with the Pistons going 3/6 on the power play.