The line of Cam Whyte, Patrice Wren and Nolan McGuire wracked up 11 points as the Winkler Flyers beat Waywayseecappo 7-5, finishing their three game northern road trip with three wins. The victory extended Winkler’s winning streak to four as they maintain second place in the MJHL.
Playing their third game in three night’s, the Flyers looked to put the finishing touches on an impressive weekend thus far. With a win in Dauphin on Friday and a victory in OCN on Saturday, the Flyers played in Waywayseecappo for the first time, fifth time overall against the Wolverines. Winkler had a 3-1 record in their first four meetings against the last place Wolverines.
The Flyers drew first blood early on as Patrice Wren tipped in a Connor Hamonic point shot just 1:20 into the game and the Flyers had a 1-0 lead. Before the game was five minutes old, Cam Whyte had scored his first of the game, pushing Winkler ahead 2-0. Nolan McGuire picked up the assist on Whyte’s 11th of the season.
Wayway would cut Winkler’s lead to 2-1, with a power-play goal just under a minute later, but the Flyers were quick to respond. With 12:33 to play in the period, Patrice Wren fed a great centering pass to Nolan McGuire who drove the net and scored his third of the year. Jon Carlson added the second assist and the Flyers had regained their two goal lead.
Nearing the end of the period, the Wolverines added another power-play goal to get to within one. However, the Flyers had an answer for that one too. Less than a minute after Wayway cut their lead to 3-2, Cam Whyte back handed a rebound past Wolverines goaltender Mitch Wiebe, pushing the Flyers ahead 4-2 with 3:21 to play before the break. Wren and McGuire assisted on Whyte’s second of the period.
It was a good opening 20 minutes for the Flyers who led the game by two goals while outshooting their opponents 17-9 in the first.
The Wolverines pushed back in the second period and scored their third of the game, 5:50 into the middle period. And just like before, it did not take Winkler long to get it back. Just 28 seconds later, Jon Carlson let a shot go from the left point, and Cam Whyte was there to tip home his third of the game and 13th of the season on the power-play. Patrice Wren picked up the second assist, which was his fourth point of the hockey game.
Leading 5-3, the Flyers took their largest lead of the game early in the third. Three minutes and forty five seconds into the frame, Jeff Michiels hit Tanner Posch with a pass in front of the net and the first year Flyer scored his second of the season giving Winkler a 6-3 lead. That goal would turn out to be the game winner as Wayway would make it close at the end. At the 8:58 mark of the third, Rylee Zimmer scored the Wolverines third power-play goal of the game bringing Wayway to within a pair. With 1:27 to play, and the Wayway goaltender on the bench in favor of the extra attacker, Dylan Gejdos cut Winkler’s lead to 6-5. With the Wayway net still empty, Nolan McGuire would steal the puck at the Flyers blueline and skate it over centre before hitting the back of the net for his second of the game, making the score 7-5 for Winkler.
Goaltender Dasan Sydora (13-2-1) was good when called upon, making 19 saves in his 13th win of the season. The Flyers power-play went 1-for-3 but the penalty-kill was only 1-for-4. The line of Cam Whyte, Patrice Wren and Nolan McGuire finshed the night with 11 points between the three of them. Whyte picked up his second hat-trick of the season, while Wren (1G-3A) and McGuire (2G-2A) had four points each. It was also McGuire’s first ever multi-point game in the MJHL.
The Flyers (17-5-5) will now head home for a much need week off. Their next game will be Saturday, November 22nd when they host the Swan Valley Stampeders (9-12-1) at 7:30pm. The second place Flyers, shutout the Stamps 6-0 in their first and only meeting of the season back in October.