Blues with rough long-weekend, drop 3 games but grab point in OT
FINAL OT/ Waywayseecappo 3, Winnipeg 2
Winnipeg, MB – The Blues took host to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines on Friday night, where they dropped a 3-2 game in OT to the team fighting for a West-Division playoff spot.
The Wolverines and Blues have played each other just twice this season, with both matchups having come after the holiday break and their showdowns have been more than eventful. Waywayseecappo had won both meetings coming into this contest.
The game began relatively calmly however, and with both teams going blow for blow, nobody could find the back of the net in the first twenty minutes. However the Wolverines with a penalty early in the first saw Winnipeg on their first powerplay.
In the second, it was Winnipeg who would get the party started, as Grady Stallman and Tate Dolinsky would connect to find Wyatt Dyck, who would net the first goal of the game, two thirds of the way through the second frame.
The game would stay quiet however until the third period, where the Wolverines found the back of the net for a goal of their own from Aidan Herring, five minutes into the frame.
Waywayseecappo would then follow it up ten minutes later, with a big 2-0 goal from Jacob Mckague on the powerplay that would see the Wolverines with their first lead of the Hockey Game.
Late in the third, Josh Gratton and Co would take their timeout, draw up a play, and the Blues would respond. With less than 15 seconds left, Brock Assailly found the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season on a big Wolverines rebound, assisted by Evan Gradt and Tate Dolinsky.
In Overtime, the Blues would win the draw and get the first overtime chance, with a big 2-on-1 into the Waywayseecappo zone, but could not capitalize, as the Wolverines would take it the other way, and on the 5th shot of OT, Sebastien Hicks would end it for Waywayseecappo.
FINAL/ Steinbach 10, Winnipeg 2
Winnipeg, MB – It was a quick turn around for the Blues on Saturday night, who in the second half of a back-to-back, would try to fend off one of the MJHL’s top squads, the Steinbach Pistons.
The last time these two teams played in Winnipeg, it was way back in November, and ended in a 10-0 Pistons win, and perhaps the lowest point of the season for the Blues. This seemed to be much of the same in terms of score, but not attitude.
The Blues would fend off most of Steinbach’s chaos in the first ten minutes of the first, and actually would compete, with some offensive-zone pressure but no solution for the Pistons netminder, the former Winnipeg Blue, River Leslie-Toogood.
Connor Paronuzzi would find the back of the net first, unassisted, at the halfway mark of the first, and Sam Zagari would follow suit around the thirteen minute mark of the first frame.
In the second, with Samuel Couture in the net now, Sam Zagari would net his second of the game for the Pistons making it 3-0, and Brayden Berg would find the back of the net 7 minutes later.
That would be the end of Samuel Couture’s night, and Kyle Beilman would retake the net he was pulled from in the first. On came the goals for Steinbach, as Ryan Macdonald and linemate Mathis Laplante would net goals and make it 6-0 Steinbach after two periods of play.
In the Third, Evan Gradt would find the back of the net in his 100th career game, to make it 6-1, but it would only put a dent in the damage done, as Steinbach would continue.
A third period hat-trick for Connor Paronuzzi, who would score his twenty third, fourth and fifth goals of the season, with Sam Zagari finding the back of the net again for his third of the night as well.
Blues captain Adam Matar would find the back of the net in the last minute, but it would only count for personal points as Steinbach would walk through Winnipeg with a 10-2 win over the Blues, preparing for a rematch on Monday in La Broquerie.
FINAL/ Winnipeg 0, Steinbach 5
La Broquerie, MB – With a rough night on Saturday against the east-division powerhouse, the Blues looked for a different fortune against Steinbach on Family Day Monday in La Broquerie, but found much of the same.
It was an afternoon start at the Hylife Centre for the Blues, taking on the Pistons in their off-white racing stripe third jerseys, attempting to make right after a 10-2 Pistons win on Saturday in Winnipeg.
Blues would start the first with a bang, as they would catch 3 consecutive shots in the first 3 shifts, with some good offensive-zone presence, but Steinbach would follow suit with some of their own early in the first.
It was a choppy first period, with nobody seeming to build momentum. Especially Steinbach, as Winnipeg continued to find big opportunities on bad Pistons turnovers near their own blue line, however would not find the back of the net.
Late in the first however, the Pistons would change that narrative, with a goal from Sam Zagari with less than two the go in the the frame.
In the second, it was much of the same Steinbach dominance seen on Saturday, with two goals from Brayden Berg and a goal from Zhenya Miles to make it 4-0 through 40 minutes of play.
Without a goal in La Broquerie this season, the Blues tried to find an answer in the third, but could not find the back of the net as Grady Hoffman with his sixteenth goal of the season would make it 5-0 and tie the knot on a rough long weekend for the Blues.
The Blues next game is set to be in Winkler on Wednesday as they’ll take on the Flyers in a 7:30pm CST puck drop, and will look to try and make a right after a rough 7-0 loss to Winkler a couple weeks back.
Written by – Tyler Cyr