The Wolverines clawed their way back on Saturday night two separate times while Gerrik Ripley scored the shootout winner to give the Wolverines an important 4-3 win over the Steinbach Pistons.
Steinbach got off to a quick start in the first period with a couple of strange goals.
First, it was Rylan Bettens whos centering shot would deflect off the shinpad of a Wolverines defender in front and get past Colin Ahern to give the Pistons a 1-0 lead.
2:09 after Bettens opened the scoring, Zach Purcell would knock the puck out of Ahern’s glove and jump on his own rebound in front to give the Pistons a 2-0 lead.
At 14:18 of the first, David Queree would receive a double minor for high sticking and the Wolverines powerplay units would go to work.
Rayman Bassi would put home a rebound in front and beat Thomson Phinney to bring the Wolverines within one. Both defencemen Cody Thompson and Alex Lucken would draw assists on the scoring play.
Both the Wolverines and Pistons would get chances on the powerplay in the second period but nothing good enough to beat Ahern or Phinney.
Although there wasn’t much action on the score sheet in the second. it was the Wolverines would pour on most of the pressure, outshooting the Pistons 13-7.
In the third period, it didn’t take long for the Wolverines to tie the game up.
Kris Bladen’s shot beat Thomson Phinney through his five-hole to pick up his 13th of the season while knotting the game up at 2-2. Matt Kasowski chipped in with the lone assist.
With 5:11 to play in the third, Zach Purcell would score his second of the night to break the tie and give the Pistons the 3-2 lead.
Just 31 seconds later, the Wolverines would get themselves back in it when Alex Lucken’s point shot would beat Thomson Phinney to tie the game up at 3-3. Brody Moffatt and Anthony Bilka would notch assists on the scoring play.
Overtime would solve nothing as the two clubs would require a shootout to settle the contest.
In the shootout, both teams would exchange goals in the first three rounds and would require another two sets of shooters.
After Gerrik Ripley beat Thomson Phinney upstairs, it came down to Carter Loney and Colin Ahern.
Ahern stood tall and stopped Loney with his paddle to secure the 4-3 shootout victory for the Wolverines.
The win moves Waywayseecappo into a fifth-place tie with the Virden Oil Capitals, who hold one game in hand on the Wolverines.
Now 23-17-4-2 on the season, the Wolverines will have no time to rest as they will head to Winnipeg to play Selkirk after the original game scheduled in Peguis fell through.