After giving up the lead in the third period, the resilient Oil Capitals found a way to battle back, eventually defeating the Portage Terriers 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday night at Tundra Oil and Gas Place.
In what was a battle for second place yet again in the MJHL standings, the Oil Capitals found themselves down 2-1 early in the third period as Ty Barnstable’s 12th of the season at 1:18 and Tanner Garnham’s sixth of the year approximately 30 seconds later gave the road team a 2-1 lead.
However, the Oil Capitals eventually bounced back as it was Tyler Kirkup’s team-leading 31st tally of the season that tied the score 2-2 at the 10:34 mark.
The game eventually ended up going to a shootout as both Jeran Knorr and Kirklan Lycar would score for Virden, while the Terriers couldn’t solve Oil Caps netminder Dalton Dosch, who was named the first star on the night, making 35 saves in the process to pick up his 13th win of the year. Meanwhile, Lasse Petersen ended up with the loss in net for Portage.
The Oil Caps opened the scoring on this night at the 17:30 mark of the first period when Kyle Salaway netted his 22nd of the season.
Extra Notes:
-The Oil Caps are now two points clear of the Terriers for second place in the MJHL standings after tonight’s win. The Oil Caps sit with a record of 33-15-2-0, which is good for 68 points.
-Jeremey Leipsic was named the second star on the night, while Oil Caps blueliner Justin Lee was the third star. Morgan Magwood was the Redfern Farm Services hardest working player.
-The Oil Caps next game is Tuesday night in Selkirk. Game time is 7:30 p.m.