After the club’s lengthy winning streak was snapped earlier in the week, it didn’t take long for the Oil Caps to get back to their winning ways as the club defeated the Winnipeg Blues 2-1 on Thursday night at Tundra Oil and Gas Place.
Virden got on the board first as Jake Poole netted his first ever MJHL goal in his debut with the Oil Caps at the 2:20 mark of the first period.
“It felt really good,” Poole said, reflecting on his first ever MJHL tally. “I wasn’t really expecting anything like that, but it was cool to get it.”
The score would remain 1-0 for the Oil Caps until the 3:41 mark of the second when Coby Stauss netted his fourth of the season to knot things up at one apiece. The Oil Caps would respond in the third as Blake Sidoni’s ninth of the year wound up being the game winner.
“It was a close game,” said Oil Caps head coach and GM Troy Leslie. “I really liked our effort in the third period. I thought we got pucks deep, we did a really good job of that. I think that was key in the win.”
Oil Caps captain Ben Dalke called it a character win considering the club was able to quickly bounce back after a 4-3 overtime loss to the Selkirk Steelers on Tuesday night, which ended the Oil Caps’ eight game winning streak.
“It was great to close that one out and get back to our winning ways,” he said. “Those ones feel good.”
Riley Wallace stopped 20 shots to pick up the win in net for Virden as the improved to 19-11-2-4 on the year. Jack Branby took the loss between the pipes for Winnipeg, turning aside 32 Virden shots in the loss.
Next up for the Oil Caps:Saturday night in Dauphin. Game time: 7:30 p.m.