The Winkler Flyers fell behind early and couldn’t recover in a 4-1 loss to the Terriers in Portage. The Flyers out shot and out chanced the Terriers but were forced to settle for the loss, seeing their three game winning streak come to an end.
Coming off a pair of 4-0 wins over the weekend, the Flyers made the short journey north to play the defending champion Terriers for the fourth time this season. The Flyers and Terriers had met three times already this season, twice in Winkler and once in Portage, with the home team winning all three times.
The Terriers scored first on the power-play when Chase Brakel swung the puck around Flyers’ netminder Cole Weaver just over four minutes into the game. That was the first goal that Weaver had allowed in over 183 minutes of game action.
Later in the period, the Flyers left Josh Sielsky alone in front and he beat Weaver through the five-hole to double the Terriers lead with 2:41 remaining in the first. Just 40 seconds later, the Flyers went on the power-play but it was the Terriers who would add to their lead with their league leading sixth short-handed goal of the season.
Despite outshooting their opponents in the first 20 minutes, the Flyers trailed by three goals heading into the break. Most of the first period was played by the special teams with a total of seven penalties called in the opening frame.
The second period belonged to the Flyers, but one of the league’s best offenses could not turn their chances into goals in the middle frame. Another defensive zone miscue would result in the Terriers fourth goal, fifteen minutes into the period. Winkler outshot Portage 12-8 in the second but were down 4-0 after 40 minutes.
Winkler had their chances again in the third but the deficit proved too big in the end. The Flyers were awarded a five minute power-play with just over five minutes left in the game after a skirmish around the Winkler net. On that power-play, Will Blake saw his point shot stopped by the pad of Portage goalie Brock Aiken, but the rebound kicked right to Mitch Dyck who scored his second of the year to cut the Terriers’ lead to 4-1. Tyler Lindstrom also assisted on the goal.
Goaltender Cole Weaver took the loss for the first time since October 25th, seeing his record slip to 12-3-0. Winkler outshot Portage 37-22. The Flyers went 0-for-5 on the power-play and 3-for-4 on the penalty-kill.
The third place Flyers (18-8-0) will play their next two games at home, starting with their first meeting of the season against the 11th place Waywayseecappo Wolverines (3-19-2) on Saturday, November 26th. Puck drop at the Winkler Recreation Complex is 7:30pm with advance tickets available at the Winkler Coop Gas Bar.
GREAT CANADIAN OIL CHANGE THREE STARS
1ST STAR – F CHASE BRAKEL (PORTAGE)
2ND STAR – F JEREMY LEIPSIC (PORTAGE)
3RD STAR – F MATT CHRISTIAN (WINKLER)