The Winkler Flyers earned their first win of the year on Friday night, defeating the Blues 5-2 in Winnipeg. Mateo Albinati, Drake Burgin, Bryce Krauter, Brody Moffatt and Justin Svenson all recorded multi-point games to help the Orange and Black start off their weekend on the right foot.
With a week off after a pair of games against Steinbach to start the season, the Flyers made their way to the provincial capital to face off against a relatively rebuilt Blues squad for the first time this season. After playing well in their first two games against the Pistons, the Flyers were looking to turn their solid effort into results as they looked for their first victory of the season.
The opening period was all Winkler as they would outshoot the Blues 14-2 in the first 20 minutes. They would also score the game’s first goal and it came off the stick of 20 year old forward Mateo Albinati who redirected a pass from Bryce Krauter into the net, giving Winkler a 1-0 lead with 4:08 left in the period. Defenseman Drake Burgin also assisted on the goal, giving him at least a point in all three games this season.
The second period was much of the same for Winkler as the Flyers would tack on three more goals to take control of the game. First it was former Blue Sulivan Shortreed who finished off another Bryce Krauter pass to double the lead to 2-0. Just a few minutes later, Drake Burgin deposited a loose puck in front of the goal to make it a 3-0 score. Then with 3:20 left before intermission, Captain Brody Moffatt sent a back hand shot past Winnipeg goaltender Cooper Hatfield on the power-play and the Flyers had a 4-0 lead through 40 minutes.
Winnipeg earned some momentum thanks to an early power-play to start the third and cut Winkler’s lead to 4-1 just over three minutes in. Before the final frame was five minutes old, the home side scored again to make it a two goal game.
Dorrin Luding and the Winkler defense would buckle down the rest of the way and after Moffatt scored his second of the game into an empty Winnipeg net in the final seconds of the game, the Flyers would skate away with a 5-2 decision, earning their first victory of the 2019-2020 season.
Luding finished the game with 20 saves as the Flyers outshot the Blues 33-22 overall, 27-7 in the first two periods alone. Both teams finished 1-for-7 on the power-play.
Winkler (1-2-0) will host the OCN Blizzard (0-1-0) on Saturday night in their next game. Puck drop at the Winkler Rec Complex is 7:30pm. You can get your tickets in advance at the Winkler Coop Gas Bar or at the door prior to the game. You can also watch the game live with a subscription to www.hockeytv.com