Pistons advance with dramatic OT victory

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/03/2019 (1863 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The defending champion Steinbach Pistons scored a dramatic 4-3 double overtime victory over the Winnipeg Blues Monday night at Bell MTS Iceplex to eliminate the Blues in six games in the MJHL quarter-finals.

Jack Kilroy, who scored only five goals during the regular season, was the hero for the Pistons as he scored the winner at 10:24 of the second overtime period, ending more than 80 minutes of tense playoff hockey.

It was a monumental victory for the Pistons, their most important of the season, as they came in reeling having lost their last two games of the series, outscored 10-2 in those games, after going up 3-0 in the series.

At stake in the game was coming back to Steinbach for game seven on Wednesday, riding a three-game losing streak, or advancing to the semis against the Swan Valley Stampeders.

The Pistons dug deep in last night’s game, still short on the blue line, and prevailed against a very formidable opponent in the Blues.

It was see-saw battle from the outset. Tony Apetagon staked the Blues to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period but Tyson McConnell scored a clutch goal to tie it for the Pistons with only 15 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

Apetagon, with his second of the game, again gave the the Blues the lead scoring seven minutes into the second period. Kyle Bettens then tied it for the Pistons with five minutes left in the middle period.

Brendan Martin scored two minutes into the third to give the Pistons their first lead of the game. But with the push on, Sulivan Shortreed tied it for the Blues with 8:15 remaining in regulation.

Troy Beauchemin, who scored Steinbach’s lone goal in a 4-1 loss in game five Saturday in Steinbach, assisted on Kilroy’s OT winner.

It was also a tremendous goaltending dual between two of the top netminders in the league as the Pistons’ Matt Radomsky and Jeremy Link of the Blues each made 39 saves.

With that tough first round series now in the books, the Pistons can now turn their focus to the Swan Valley Stampeders in the MJHL semi-finals.

The Stampeders, who had a tremendous regular season, finishing second overall with a 42-13-3-2 record, swept the Dauphin Kings four straight in their quarter-final series. The Pistons were third overall with a record of 39-17-4-0.

That series will get underway this weekend in Swan River. The other semi-final series will pit the Portage Terriers against the Virden Oil Capitals.