The Central Plains Capitals took to the ice last night with their backs against the wall and their season on the line in Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League playoff action. They gave it their all but just couldn't overcome a slow first period as they fell to the Winnipeg Wild by a final score of 8-3.

The Caps came out slow in the first period and it looked like it might be a runaway game as the Wild would get three unanswered goals in the frame. Luc Benedictson, Mitchell Joss and Kyle Bettens all netted goals as the Capitals seemed to be skating two steps too slow to stop the Wild. The Wild would take the 3-0 lead into the dressing room.

Something happened in the Caps locker room between periods because they came out absolutely flying to start the second. The pressure they put on the Wild clearly had the first-place team shaken as Mitchell Wilson put home two markers before the period was even two minutes old. Suddenly, it was a game. Central Plains dominated play for the entire second period. Even when Winnipeg forward Tristan Thompson gave his team back a two-goal lead, the Caps pushed back. Logan Rands would fire a shot past Wild goalie Miles Minor on the powerplay, bringing the Capitals back within one. The Wild looked visibly shaken and shell-shocked for much of the period. They would take a 4-3 lead into the final frame.

In the third, it seemed like the Capitals just ran out of gas. They had given it their all and they made a couple of mistakes in their own end and the Wild made them pay. Kaden Bryant would net a pair as would Mitchell Joss giving him the hat trick to run the final score to 8-3. In the end, the Caps were tired and skating a step too slow while the Wild rolled four lines and kept all their players fresh. Central Plains had obviously given it their all and left it out on the ice. Caps Head Coach Brad Gnidziejko had this to say about his team's effort.

"Everybody knew what needed to happen. And for the last two months, we've responded. Anytime we got down we called it fuel, it was our fuel to move ahead and it worked again. We just talked about what we needed to do and what got us to this point and we went out and did it. We kind of got a bit loose in the D-zone, it's a good team, when you make a mistake in your own end they capitalize. We weren't very good in our own end for certain parts of the game and just about every time we got loose there it cost us."

With the loss, the Central Plains Capitals season is now over. They finished the regular season in eighth-place and had to play a Winnipeg Wild team that had only lost five games during the regular season, going 41-5. They stunned the Wild by playing them hard and close all series long, taking the game right to them. The loss brings to an end a storybook season where the Capitals overcame injuries all season long and fought back to barely make the playoffs. The Capitals will put a wrap on their season when they host their annual Awards Banquet in April.