Terriers snap losing streak in Steinbach

The Portage Terriers are riding home on a high note. The Dogs defeated the top-seeded Steinbach Pistons 4-2 on the road tonight.

The Terriers opened the scoring midway through the first period. Matt Wisener brought the puck in the offensive zone along the boards and made a centring pass for Kaden Kohle in tight, who made no mistake about it.

The Terriers held onto the 1-0 into the first intermission but Steinbach would tie the game early in the second. The Dogs started the period with the man-advantage, but it was the Pistons' leading goal scorer Travis Hensrud, who found the back of the net during those two minutes.

Steinbach took their first lead of the game a few minutes later as Nate Goodbrandson put home his tenth of the year, on a rebound opportunity, on the power-play.

This lead didn’t last for long, however, as just 16 seconds later, Austin Peters entered the offensive zone and stopped near the face-off dot. He quickly circled around and saw Ryan Botterill trailing on the play. Peters fed the local forward, and Botterill made no mistake about it, finding the back of the net for the 14th time this season.

With just over a minute to play in the second, the Terriers found themselves on a power-play. Slade Stanick received a pass just behind the Pistons' defence, and entered the offensive zone with speed creating a breakaway. Stanick picked his spot and made the most of it, going high on the glove side to extend his point streak to five games and give the Terriers the 3-2 heading into the final frame.

With just over five minutes left to play, Steinbach had a few opportunities in front of Terrier goalie Bailey Monteith and were looking to tie it up. After Monteith lost his stick on a save, the puck went to the point, and Hugo Larkin ripped a shot on net. The Terrier goaltender was going to pick up his stick but dropped it when the shot came toward him to make a miraculous glove save.

With less than two minutes to go, Austin McLean sealed the deal for Portage on the power-play. This brought the final score to 4-2 Terriers.

This victory snaps Portage’s two-game losing streak and has them tied for second place in the East Division standings once again.

The Terriers have just one more game before the new year, which takes place on Wednesday against the Winkler Flyers.