The Waywayseecappo Wolverines will travel south on Saturday to begin a two-game road trip with their first stop in Selkirk against the Steelers.
After going 1-3-0-0 over their previous four, the Wolverines got back on track this week with wins over the Virden Oil Capitals and OCN Blizzard. Despite giving up the first goal in both of those contests, the Wolverines played a full sixty minutes and pushed the pace in all three periods to get those wins.
Leading into the road trip, the Wolverines’ previous trip to Selkirk turned out to be one the club would want to quickly forget about.
Selkirk stormed out to an early 2-0 lead within the first six minutes of the first before Rayman Bassi cut into the lead midway through the period.
After the Wolverines scored two goals in two minutes, Selkirk would strike even quicker and score twice in 27 seconds to take a 4-3 lead. In the third period, the Wolverines would get a pair of chances with the man-advantage and pull Phinney for the extra attacker but Selkirk would hang on for the victory.
Steelers Outlook
The Selkirk Steelers enter Saturday night as one of the top teams in the MJHL with their 14-7-2-0 record that has the club one point out of first place and in a three-way tie for second place.
On Friday night, the Steelers managed to shut down one of the leagues’ most powerful offensive attacks in holding the Dauphin Kings to one goal during a 3-1 victory.
Since starting the regular season with three straight losses, the Steelers have lost just four games over the last 20.
Goaltender Levi Mitchell has been a workhorse for the Steelers having started 19 of 23 games, seeing the most shots (628) in the league and playing the second-most minutes (1110).
Selkirk continues to be led offensively by a pair of 1999-born forwards in Carter Barley and Brett Namaka who have 26 and 23 points respectively.
News and Notes
Heading into Saturday night, the MJHL standings have yet to be this tight with just three points separating 1st to 6th. Selkirk sits one point ahead of the Wolverines with both clubs having played 23 games.
Selkirk boasts a league-best penalty kill (85.4%) while it’s been the complete opposite on their powerplay as the club sits second last (15.4%). The Steelers have scored a league-leading 6 shorthanded goals.
The Wolverines powerplay has been lethal as of late which has boosted their conversion rate to 21.6%, good enough for fifth in the league. Their 77.8% penalty kill has the club eighth in the league.
Where to Watch
Watch tonight’s game between the Wolverines and Blizzard live on HockeyTV.com or follow the Wolverines on Twitter @mjhlWolverines for live game updates.