Neepawa Natives fall to Pistons in game two
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- Published on Monday, March 13, 2017
Photo by Eoin Devereux. Pistons goaltender Roman Bengert makes a save on Reigan Buchanan during the second period on Sunday, Mar. 12.
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
A solid effort in the final four minutes of regulation was not enough to make up for 56 minutes of lackluster play from the Neepawa Natives, as they lost 3-2 to the Steinbach Pistons on Sunday, Mar. 12. That win evened up the best-of-seven MJHL quarter final series at one game apiece.
In the first period, Steinbach came out aggressively, pressuring Natives goaltender Tyler Gutenberg on several chances. The score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes, however, as Gutenberg came up with some impressive goal stealing saves.
Throughout the first and second, the Pistons looked to get under the skin of the Neepawa players with a few extracurriculars after the whistle. That didn’t work well for them though, as they ended up taking several undisciplined penalties in the process. The Natives power-play, however, was simply unable to take advantage, as Steinbach stymied everything they tried to do with the extra attacker. Neepawa ended the evening 0-7 with the advantage.
As for goals, Wyatt Hinson of the Pistons opened up the scoring just 2:16 into the second, with a solid wrist shot. That provided Steinbach with the 1-0 lead. The Pistons added a second goal in the period with only a second left in the middle frame. A clean face-off win from Mackenzie Graham allowed Jordan Bochinski to snap a hard shot past Gutenberg as the intermission buzzer sounded. That pushed the lead to 2-0 after 40 minutes and left many of the 1,126 fans in attendance at the Yellowhead Centre stunned by this last second turn of events.
The majority of the third period saw the Pistons play smart defensive hockey, turning away every opportunity the Natives tried to create. At the same time, they continued to push the game into the Neepawa zone, looking for another goal. That persistence paid off at the 9:03 mark, with a power-play goal from Ryan Carlson.
A few minutes later, Steinbach thought they had a fourth goal, but had it waved off quickly due to goaltender interference on the play. The score remained 3-0 and the Pistons received a penalty on the play. Unfortunately, the ineffective Natives power-play once again came up blank.
With just 3:56 left in regulation, Neepawa was finally able to get one past Pistons goaltender Roman Bengert, as Reigan Buchanan notched his first goal of the night and third of the playoffs.
Then, with the goalie pulled, Neepawa added another with just 48 seconds left, closing the gap to a lone goal. A glorious last second comeback was not to be, however, as Steinbach held on to the 3-2 win. Bengert picked up the win with 20 saves on the night, while Gutenberg had a much busier night, registering 35 saves on the evening.
Natives head coach Dustin Howden said the Pistons simply took control early and dictated the pace through the game.
“Steinbach just gave us a lesson on what playoff hockey is all about. That's a team that's been to the finals the last two years and they are hungry to get there again,” stated Howden. “We saw what Steinbach can do [on Sunday night], now we have a series on our hands.”
Howden stressed that his players will have to take this defeat in stride and learn from it. He added that they’ll have to play structured and win the little battles that occur out on the ice every shift, like they did in game one in order to compete.
Game three in the best-of-seven series will be played on Tuesday, Mar. 14. in Steinbach.
