The Waywayseecappo Wolverines return to home ice on Saturday night to host the Portage Terriers after picking up a pair of key wins over Dauphin and Virden earlier in the week.
A solid sixty-minute effort gave the Wolverines a 5-2 win over the Dauphin Kings on Tuesday before the club really banded together and managed to come back against the Virden Oil Capitals three different times during an exciting 6-5 regulation win on Thursday.
Down by scores of 2-0 and 4-2, the Wolverines would score four, third-period goals on Thursday night including Matt Kasowski’s game-winner with 1:53 remaining in the third to seal the win for the Wolverines.
A pair of tilts from Brody Moffatt and Logan Wotton seemed to really ignite the Wolverines to finish hard which certainly paid off with two big points.
Saturday night’s game against Portage will be their fourth meeting of the season and 36th regular-season game for the Wolverines.
Head To Head
All three meetings with the Terriers have been nothing but entertaining hockey games as the Wolverines have gone 1-2-0-0 thus far.
The Wolverines opened the season series with an exciting 4-3 come from behind overtime victory that saw two third period goals before Tyler Leibl put home a rebound in front to lift the Wolverines to victory.
The next meeting is certainly one the Wolverines would like back as they couldn’t hold on to leads of 3-1 and 5-3 in the third period. Portage would score four goals in the third, including two powerplay goals that really sunk the team.
In their most recent meeting, the Wolverines once again led 3-1 before the Terriers turned it on and scored four unanswered. The Wolverines would push and a late one but it wouldn’t be enough as the Terriers would take a 5-4 win.
Terriers Outlook
The Portage Terriers come into Saturday night riding a league-leading eight-game win streak.
Portage is fresh off of a tight 5-4 victory over the Winnipeg Blues on Friday night.
The Blues held a 2-1 lead going into the third period before two lead changes would have the game locked at 4-4 in the last few minutes of the third period. Riley Bruce would score with 3:27 remaining to lift the Terriers to victory after outshooting the Blues 45-15.
The Terriers don’t rely on just one line to supply their offense which is what makes them a dangerous team. With seven skaters having already reached the 20 point margin, it’s no shock that the Terriers don’t have trouble scoring goals.
Operating at 30% on the man-advantage also makes the Terriers a threat every time they step out on the powerplay. Discipline will be the name of the game for the Wolverines on Saturday as the Terriers do a great job of sucking teams into taking penalties.
News and Notes
Picking up four of a possible four points this week for the Wolverines was massive for the hockey club as they look to continue to fight for position at the top of the MJHL standings.
The Wolverines come into Saturday night one point behind the third-place Stampeders and just two points ahead of the fifth-place Winkler Flyers.
After missing one game with a lower-body injury, Conrad Phillips will be back in the Wolverines lineup. It’s expected that Liam Tereposky will also be back after missing one game with the flu.
After tonight’s game against Portage, the Wolverines will have a quick turnaround before they host the Winkler Flyers on Sunday night at 8:00 pm.
Where to Watch
Watch tonight’s game between the Wolverines and Terriers live on HockeyTV.com or follow the Wolverines on Twitter @mjhlWolverines for live game updates.