The Portage Terriers couldn't solve Roman Bengert.

Tyler Anderson scored midway through the third period to break a scoreless tie, and Bengert had a 22-save shutout, as the Steinbach Pistons edged the Terriers 1-0 last night at the PCU Centre in Portage la Prairie. Portage's four-game winning streak came to an end.

"I think that the score really flattered us. I think (goalie Brock Aiken) gave us a chance to be there right in the end, and we just didn't have enough guys that competed," Terriers head coach Blake Spiller says. "I thought they came and played hard, they won pretty much all the battles that needed to be won. For the most part, we just didn't want to compete hard as an entire group."

There were chances at both ends of the ice through 40 minutes, but neither club could light the lamp. Steinbach had several breakaway opportunities in the second period, and Terriers' netminder Brock Aiken made three key saves to keep the game tied. The Dogs had their fair share of chances through two, including one post from Ty Enns and a couple of spoiled breakaway opportunities of their own. Things started to heat up physically toward the end of the second, and that aggression carried into the third.

The Terriers started the third period on the powerplay, but again couldn't break the deadlock. The first goal on the board came just over seven minutes into the final frame, when Anderson slid one five-hole past Aiken on a broken play to break the scoreless tie. The Terriers pulled the goalie with 1:30 to go in the game, but couldn't beat Bengert. 

Spiller says there's no reason to panic after a poor effort against the top team.

"It's still early in the year, and we're a pretty young group, and we had some guys in the lineup that haven't played a whole bunch lately so they were getting tired toward the end," the Terriers' head coach says. "But no excuses, we were outplayed by the better club."

For all the stats from the game, click here. The Terriers are back at it Friday when they visit Winnipeg. Catch the game live on CFRY and PortageOnline.com.

First Cut Down December 1st

The Terriers have to cut down to 25 players by Dec. 1, with 23 players carded to play. Spiller says they've always got their eyes open for a hot deal.

"There's always decisions at this point in the year. Obviously, there's the next deadline too, so December 1st is a pretty long day just like January 10th," he says. "If something comes available that can make us a better hockey club then we will entertain it, and try to do it. For the most part, we'll see what's out there, and if we can make a good hockey deal for our club then we'll do it."