The Waywayseecappo Wolverines enter hostile territory on Sunday night when the club meets the league-leading Steinbach Pistons in search of a fourth straight win.
On Saturday night in Selkirk, the Wolverines scored twice in both the first and second periods before a single in the third would be enough to lift the Wolverines over the Steelers in a 5-4 victory.
It was a balanced scoring attack for the Wolverines with all five goals coming off of the sticks of different players. Nick Doyle, Kris Bladen, and Jaymes Knee each picked up a pair of points in the victory.
As far as Sunday nights matchup against the Steinbach Pistons goes, it should be an extremely entertaining contest. Through three games against the Pistons this season, the Wolverines have gone 1-1-1.
The Wolverines held a 3-0 lead over the Pistons at the Showcase in Winnipeg before Steinbach stormed back to win it 4-3 in overtime on a powerplay marker. Shortly after the Showcase in early October, the Wolverines skated to a 4-2 win over the Pistons on home ice in a defensive battle that saw the shots end up in favor of the Wolverines, 22-18.
Waywayseecappo would later pay a visit to the T.G. Smith Centre that would see the Wolverines comeback effort fall short after a Pistons hot start led to a 4-2 win.
Pistons Outlook
The Steinbach Pistons have been the best team in the MJHL all season long. Their record of 15-3-1-1 through 20 games has the Pistons in first place and 13th in the CJHL Top 20 Rankings.
Through seven games in the month of November, Steinbach has gone 6-1-0-0 with their only loss coming in a 6-3 defeat to the Winkler Flyers.
Steinbach is fresh off of a 6-2 win over the Dauphin Kings on Saturday night that saw the club score two goals in all three periods.
The Pistons balanced scoring attack starts with 18-year-old Kyle Bettens and 17-year-old Carter Loney who have 25 and 18 points respectively.
Goaltender, Matt Lenz has also been outstanding in the crease, leading the MJHL in wins (14), goals-against average (1.97) and save percentage (.929).
News and Notes
Although the Pistons have four games in hand on the Wolverines, Waywayseecappo sits just one point back of the first-place Pistons heading into Sunday night. Just two points separate 1st to 5th in the MJHL and it’s never been closer.
The Wolverines were unable to capitalize on the man-advantage Saturday night, but prior to that, the team notched six goals in their previous three games.
In just 24 games this season, the Wolverines are halfway to their 2018-19 win total of 28. The Wolverines are also on pace to smash their goal total (161) from last season, having scored 85 so far.
The Wolverines and Pistons special teams units are almost identical with the Wolverines holding a slight edge with the man-advantage, while the Pistons sit just in front of the Wolverines on the penalty kill.
Veteran Defenceman, Matt Kasowski returned to the Wolverines lineup on Saturday in Selkirk and is expected to contribute some big-time minutes moving forward.
Should the Wolverines pick up a win on Sunday night, it would be the clubs 2nd four-game win streak of the season.
Where to Watch
Watch tonight’s game between the Wolverines and Pistons live on HockeyTV.com or follow the Wolverines on Twitter @mjhlWolverines for live game updates.