Portage La Prairie, MB- Jack Einarson scored two sshorthanded goals in the third period, and Kyle Kozma stopped 37/40 propelling the Oil Caps over the Terriers 7-3.
The Virden Oil Capitals got off to a scorching hot start to the hockey game. Just 1:45 into the opening period, Owen Blocker got the road team on the board to make it 1-0 Oil Caps. Then the Oil Caps got a powerplay, with a chance to extend the lead, but it was quickly erased after a Brett Paddock high sticking penalty. Both sides played four on four for a minute and a half. After some excellent pressure in the offensive zone, Hunter Andrew, Jack Einarson, and Hunter Cloutier connected on a pretty passing play that saw Cloutier show some nice patience and slid it past Johnston’s left pad. That made it 2-0 Oil Caps. The scoring wasn’t done there. This time, Brett Paddock was the recipient of a friendly bounce; his shot hit a couple of bodies and dropped in behind the goaltender for his first of the season. The Terriers were given a four-minute powerplay after Josh Belcher got the gate for butt-ending. The Terriers came close to cutting into the lead, but Kyle Kozma stood tall late in the frame. The Oil Caps outshot the Terriers 16-15 in the opening frame.
The Oil Caps started shorthanded in the second period, as Belcher still had 1:32 left to serve in his double minor. The Oil Caps successfully killed off the penalty and went straight to for on offence. Defenceman Trevor Hunt let a shot go from the point, and it beat the goaltender glove side to extend the lead to 4-0. Then again on the man-advantage, the Oil Caps made the Terriers pay when Belcher jammed home his second of the season to make it 5-0. The Terriers had a chance to cut into the lead, but Kozma again stood his ground. The Oil Caps were then given a powerplay after defenceman Bray Rookes was involved in a dangerous knee-on-knee collision. Terriers forward Bryson MacDonald was assessed a five minute major and game misconduct for Kneeing. The Oil Caps were unable to convert. At the end of the period, the referee assessed the Oil Caps a minor penalty for goaltender interference. The shots after 40 minutes were 28-27 in favor of the Terriers.
In the final frame, the Terriers got a couple of powerplays to begin the period. But it was the Oil Caps that found the scoresheet. Jack Einarson scored two shorthanded goals 1:27 apart to extend the leads to 6-0 and 7-1.
Oil Caps captain Jack Einarson had this to say on his team’s 7-3 victory.
“Obviously, it was nice to see some results like this finally,” said Einarson. “it for sure gives the team a lot of confidence heading into Sunday nights game,” added Einarson.
The Terriers got a couple of late third period goals to make the score a bit more respectable.
Head Coach Tyson Ramsey had this to say on the win.
“I thought we did some good things offensively, we talked about getting more pucks to the net and create more traffic than we did last Sunday, and if you look at some of the goals we scored tonight, we were able to do that,” said Ramsey.
“I was not too fond of our defensive game in the second period. We gave them too much time and space, and I thought they outworked us down low in our zone. Kyle Kozma was excellent again and bailed us out numerous times in the second. Then in the third, I thought we settled down again, and we were a little more structured. Obviously happy with the 2 points, and we’ll look at some video tomorrow and talk about where we can be better,” added Ramsey.
With the win, the Oil Caps move to 2-0-1 on the season and will be back in action Sunday night when they again travel to Portage to battle the Terriers. Puck drop is set for 6:30 PM.
Written by: Blake Friars