The Portage Terriers suffered a crushing 6-1 loss to the Winkler Flyers last night in the MJHL.

The Terriers couldn't seem to find their legs in this one, as they allowed 3 goals in the first period. They only had 11 forwards for the game, and fatigue was clearly a factor. The Flyers added 3 more before the end of the game --Kayden Jarvis led their attack with a hat trick. The Terriers' Turner Santin scored the Dogs' only goal.

Head Coach Blake Spiller says it was a tough night for his club.

"I thought they (Winkler) were good. Our inexperience kind of showed a little bit at times here, and it just seemed to be tough on us here and full credit to their club they played really well. I look forward to playing them on the 31st in Portage."

The Terriers are still without their top 3 defensemen -- Brett Orr and Dean Stewart are with Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge -- and Brock Weston is still recovering from an injury. Spiller says they'll have to continue to rely on AP defenders until their players return.

"We're banged up a little bit, and we have been for a while here. A couple guys away that definitely are big parts of our hockey club. We're looking forward to the break, but at the same time we have a couple games left like you said, so we'll regroup here -- it's one night at the rink -- The game didn't go so well and we'll be ready to go Friday night."

The Dogs have 2 games remaining before the Christmas break. They host OCN Friday night at the PCU Centre, and travel to Neepawa on Saturday.