After losing the lead three different times and falling to the Winkler Flyers 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines will look to end a four-game skid against the first place Portage Terriers on Wednesday night.
On Tuesday, the Wolverines just couldn’t hang onto their leads. After opening the scoring early in all three periods, the Flyers would find an answer in the last five minutes of each period to tie the game up and send it to overtime at 3-3.
Winkler held the momentum for most of the 3-on-3 overtime which included an early breakaway that Thomson Phinney was able to shut the door on. Five minutes of extra time would solve nothing as the two clubs would head to a shootout.
The Wolverines were shut down in the shootout by Flyers Goaltender, Dorrin Luding. Justin Svenson made a nice move to score for the Flyers in the second round and Noah Westgate would be stopped by Luding to give the Flyers the 4-3 shootout win.
Although the Wolverines did lose, they still managed to pick up a key point that will make a difference in March.
Heading into Wednesday nights matchup in Portage, the Wolverines will need bare down. Costly mistakes continue to plague the club at inopportune times in games as of late. The Wolverines came close but were unable to solve the Terriers last season.
If the Wolverines want to come away with a win over the Terriers, it will come down to every single player doing their job and doing it well.
Terriers Outlook
It’s been business as usual for the Portage Terriers to start the 2019-20 season. The Terriers have gotten off to a 10-2-0-0 start which has the team ranked 7th in the most recent CJHL Top 20 Rankings.
After starting the season 8-0-0-0, the Terriers have now gone 2-2-0-0 in their last four which includes a 5-1 loss to the Steinbach Pistons and a 4-2 loss to the OCN Blizzard on Saturday night.
The Terriers work on special teams is one of the big factors in their early-season success. Their 28.3% conversion rate on the man-advantage is tops in the league while their 91.4% kill rate also has the team first.
The younger brother of Wolverines Forward, Brody Moffatt) has led the way offensively for the Terriers. Younger brother, Joey (Moffatt) has been on fire to start the season scoring eight goals and seven assists in 12 games.
News and Notes
The Wolverines powerplay unit scored in their eighth straight game to give the club a 20% conversion rate on the man-advantage which is good enough for third in the MJHL.
A new line of Jaymes Knee, Rayman Bassi and Conrad Phillips were dominant at times on Tuesday night in Winkler which saw the trio connect on a beautiful one-timer goal from Conrad Phillips to give him his tenth point in the last six games.
Despite Tuesday’s loss, Wolverines Goaltender, Thomson Phinney was solid for the club stopping 38 of 41 shots fired his way.
Following Wednesday nights game in Portage, the Wolverines will have a couple of days off before returning to home ice on Sunday night to host the Swan Valley Stampeders, Tuesday to host the Steelers and Thursday to host the Blizzard on Halloween night.
Where to Watch
Watch tonight’s game between the Wolverines and Terriers live on HockeyTV.com or follow the Wolverines on Twitter @mjhlWolverines or live game updates.