December 13, 2016
The Oil Capitals dropped their first game of the MJHL Player Showcase 6-2, against the Steinbach Pistons. Assistant Coach, Carter Duffin Said, “We battled hard in spurts. We worked hard to get the game to 3-2 and then they quickly responded with another goal of their own. The big difference in the game was their ability to capitalize on their chances.”
The Oil Capitals held their ground against the Steinbach Pistons in the first period. Both teams came out flying and put a lot of shots on goal. The Pistons got on the board first with a goal from Will Cruise at 5:47 assisted by Bradley Schoonbaert and Ryan Carlson. The Caps answered back and tied the game up with a power play goal from Kirklan Lycar for his first as an Oil Capital at 17:50 assisted by Dylan Thiessen and Ben Dalke. At the end of the first period the game was tied 1-1 and shots on goal were 12-9 in favour of Steinbach Pistons.
The Steinbach Pistons scored an early one 26 seconds into the second with a goal from Wyatt Hinson assisted by Mark Taraschuk and Joseph Leonidas. The Pistons would score again midway through the period with a goal from Wyatt Hinson for his second of the game to go-ahead 3-1 assisted by Ryan Carlson. At the end of two periods of play the Caps were down by two and shots on goal were 14-8 for the Pistons.
Kyle Salaway got things started for the Caps in the third scoring his 11th goal of the season at 7:05 on the power play assisted by Tristen Cross and Jeran Knorr, 3-2 Pistons. The rest of the period was all the Pistons scoring three more times in the period to take the lead 6-2. The final score was 6-2 and final shots on goal were 41-27 for the Pistons.
The Caps and Pistons both went 2 for 5 (40%) on the power play in today’s game. Next game for the Capitals is at the MJHL Player Showcase in Winnipeg Wednesday, December 14 against Neepawa Natives with a 1:00pm start time!