March 10, 2017
The Virden Oil Capitals dropped a hard fought triple overtime 5-4 battle in Game one of the MJHL Quarter- Final Series. Winkler Flyers, Tyler Lindstrom put the game winner away with 27.9 seconds left in the third overtime period. The Capitals had a two-goal lead with five minutes to go in the third period and the Flyers battled back to tie the game to send it to three overtime periods. Head Coach Troy Leslie said, “ I thought our effort was really good last night. We needed our power play to be effective and it was. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t hold our two goal lead. We are looking forward to a boost from our hometown fans in tomorrow night’s game as we look for energy to get the series back on even terms.”
Virden’s strength last night was their power play, which managed to convert 3 out of 6 times (50%) during Friday’s match-up.
The Oil Capitals started the series on the road after finishing in 7th place in the league and taking on 2nd place Winkler Flyers. In the first period, Jordan Thomson found the back of the net for the first time as an Oil Capital, scoring the first goal of the game on a power play assisted by Kirklan Lycar and Ben Dalke. Despite the early lead by the Capitals, the Flyers answered back seconds later to tie the game 1-1. At the end of 20 minutes of play, the Caps and Flyers were tied 1-1 and shots on goal were tied 13-13.
The Caps Carter Cowlthorp got things rolling early in the second to take a 2-1 lead assisted by Marco Creat and Kyle Salaway. The Caps scored their third power play goal at 9:12 with a goal from Ben Dalke assisted by Kirklan Lycar and Mack Hardy and extended the lead to 3-1. Seconds later the Flyers Will Blake answered back assisted by Tyler Lindstrom, 3-2 Caps. The Caps assistant captain, Carter Cowlthorp put the Caps back up by two with an unassisted goal. The Flyers went on the power play and put one by McVeigh at 15:02 with a goal from Matt Christian assisted by Coltyn Bates, 4-3 Capitals. The Flyers tied the game 4-4 at 16:50 with a goal from Brody Moffatt assisted by Nolan McGuire and Tyler Lindstrom.
The Caps and Flyers battled deep into the third overtime period when Winkler Flyers Tyler Lindstrom put the game winner away with 27.9 seconds left. The final shots on goal were 52-45 in favour of the Flyers.
Game two is at Tundra Oil & Gas Place tomorrow night at 7:00 pm for a chance for the Caps to even the series. You can purchase your tickets at the Caps office or call (204)-748-4848 for more details!