Virden put together a solid complete game effort tonight on home ice in front of 992 of the Oil Caps faithful as they downed the visiting Swan Valley Stampeders 4-1 on Virden Subway Hockey Card Night.
Tanner Lewis scored for the Oil Caps 3:09 into the first period and the Oil Caps never looked back. Torrin Grange and Tyler Ham drew assists on the game’s first goal which was promptly followed up by Mack Hardy’s 13th of the season to give Virden a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Taylor Fisher continued the offense midway through the second to extend the lead to 3-0. Soren Frederiksen then scored his team-leading 25th goal of the season on the power play to stretch the lead to 4-0 after two periods of play. Jordan Greig and Corey Haverstick picked up the helpers on the Frederiksen goal.
The Stampeders broke Sean Kuehn’s shut out bid in the third with a goal from Tristan Langan 9:30 into the period. Virden shut the door the rest of the way as they finish the night with 42 shots on the Stampeders goal. Kuehn picked up the 18-save win while Graham Hunt made 25 saves in 40 minutes of work to get tagged with the loss.
Virden will have little time to rest on their victory. They will be on the road early tomorrow morning to get to Winkler for a 2:30 Superbowl Sunday matchup with the Flyers. A win tomorrow can put the Oil Caps ahead of Winkler for fourth spot in the standings. The Flyers carry a game in hand after sitting idle tonight.