January 20, 2017
Virden, MB – The Oil Capitals came into tonight’s matchup against the Selkirk Steelers with a 2-1 overtime win on the road against the Steelers. The Caps looked to keep rolling with the momentum from last game, but fell short with a 5-3 loss. Virden Oil Capitals Head Coach, Troy Leslie said, “ The difference between our game in Selkirk and tonight’s game was consistency through 60 minutes. We were able to carry the momentum from the Selkirk game into the first period. We didn’t respond to the strong push they made at the start of the second period. We will need to have a 60 minute effort tonight against a strong Steinbach squad.”
The first period the Capitals came out flying and taking it to the Steelers. It didn’t take long for Oil Caps Tyler Kirkup to put one home at 3:24 in the first assisted by Kyle Salaway and Carter Cowlthorp. The Caps kept things rolling and put another one on the board at 8:13 with a power play goal from Dylan Thiessen assisted by Kirklan Lycar and Mack Hardy. At the end of the first period the Caps were in the lead 2-0 and the shots on goal were an even 12-12.
The Steelers cut the lead to one with a goal early in the second period at 48 seconds from Liam Kroeker assisted by Ezra Hall and Nathan Halvorsen. The Steelers continued to come at the Caps with their second goal of the game at 4:30 on the power play scored by Taylor Fisher assisted by Jake Dudar and Ryan Gardiner, 2-2. The Steelers proceeded to take the lead with a goal at 5:36 from Cole McCartan assisted by Jake Dudar and Connor Barley. The Caps got things rolling again and answered back at 14:54 with a goal from Tyler Kirkup for his second of the game assisted by Kirklan Lycar and Morgan Magwood, 3-3. The Steelers took the lead again with a goal from Connor Barley at 17:10 assisted by Jake Dudar and Cole McCartan, 4-3. The Steelers scored 4 goals in the second period to take the lead 4-3 at the end of 40 minutes of play. The shots on goal were 15-13 for the Capitals.
The third period proved to be a much quieter one for scoring than the second. The Steelers scored the lone goal of the period at 14:26 with a goal from Shannan McFadden assisted by Ryan Pruden and Mark Wilson, 5-3. The Caps kept putting the pressure on the Steelers trying to cut the lead. At the end of 60 minutes of play the Steelers took the game 5-3 and shots on goal were 10-8 for the Caps. The final shots on goal were 37-33 for the Caps.
The Redferns Farmer Strong Hardest Worker of the Game – Carter Cowlthorp
The Caps Kirklan Lycar picked up the second star of the game with 2 points (2A).
The Caps next action is tonight against the Selkirk Steelers – 7:30pm puck drop.