The Winnipeg Blues battled and grinded for a 4-3 shootout win over the Swan Valley Stampeders in their first game in 2022.
The Blues and Stampeders both spent the early minutes of the game shaking off the rust, trading shots until Eric Fawkes opened the scoring to put the Blues out front.
A few minutes later, Ryan Ostermann scored his first goal with the Winnipeg Blues to extend Winnipeg’s lead. Ostermann was acquired on Sunday for future considerations, and the Winnipeg local wasted no time making an impact with his new squad.
Swan Valley came back within one late in the period, but Winnipeg still led after 20 minutes.
Jack Kaiser scored to extend the Blues lead back up to two, but Carter Cockburn scored once in the second and once in the third to force the game into overtime.
Swan Valley was forced to change their goalie in OT after starter Dylan Black lost his skate blade and couldn’t get a new one set in time. Apart from that, not much happened which led into a shootout.
Josiah Vanderhooft scored the shootout’s lone goal, snapping the Winnipeg Blues losing streak at six games.