Three goals in the span of just 31 seconds by the Pistons late in the first period helped pave the way to a 6-1 win for the home team over the Oil Caps on Wednesday night in Steinbach.
In a game that was delayed approximately a half hour – there was also a shortened warm-up session due to a puck being shot and shattering some of the plexiglass – it looked like this back-and-forth affair was heading to the first intermission scoreless.
That’s until Mark Taraschuk of the Pistons opened the scoring at the 18:15 mark, followed by Drew Worrad’s 20th of the season just nine seconds later. Twenty-two seconds later, Brendan Martin found the back of the net, and just like that, the home team went into the dressing room with a three-goal cushion.
The Oil Caps were able to respond in the second as Jeran Knorr’s 20th of the year at the 6:35 mark on the power play made it 3-1 after 40 minutes.
The Pistons regained the momentum just two minutes and one second into the final frame as Austin Heidemann picked up his 20th goal of the season to make it 4-1. The Pistons kept coming as Brady Tatro scored at 8:59, while Worrad was able to net his second of the night at the 9:54 mark.
Matthew Thiessen made 31 saves to pick up the win as the league-leading Pistons picked up their 40th win of the season, while Riley McVeigh stopped 36 shots in the loss for Virden.
Next up for the Oil Caps: a home game on Saturday night against the Selkirk Steelers. Game time: 7:30 p.m.