It was a rough ending to the Flyers weekend road trip as the Orange and Black fell 5-1 to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines on Sunday afternoon. Brady Pupp scored the lone goal for Winkler as the Flyers failed to dig themselves out of an early game deficit.
After a thrilling come from behind win in Dauphin the night before, the Winkler Flyers were in search of their eighth win in their last 10 games on the road. Winkler did not get off to the start they needed as Wayway goaltender Isaac Labelle made a number of key saves early on to keep the game scoreless in the opening minutes.
The Wolverines scored first on the power-play just before the nine minute mark of the opening period, when Darren Gisti’s shot from the point beat goaltender Aaron Brunn over the right shoulder. Just 19 seconds later, Preston Seymour poked one through Brunn’s five-hole to double the Wolverines’ lead to 2-0. Wayway added another one in the next few moments and the Flyers all of a sudden found themselves down 3-0. All three Wayway goals came in a span of one minute and 53 seconds.
That would spell the end of the game for Brunn, who was replaced by veteran Troy Martyniuk in goal for Winkler. The Flyers deficit grew larger just over five minutes into the second when a blown coverage resulted in another Wayway goal and the Flyers were now behind 4-0.
Winkler was finally able to solve Labelle later in the period when Brady Pupp scored his second goal in as many games and sixth of the season to cut Wayway’s lead to 4-1. Nolan McGuire and Garrett Kuklica assisted.
The Wolverines grabbed the momentum right back as Seymour would take advantage of a bad turnover at the Winkler blueline and scored his third goal of the game to push the home team back out in front by four.
After a scoreless final frame, the Flyers were forced to settle for a split of their two games on the weekend. Aaron Brunn made 10 saves on the 13 shots he faced before being replaced midway through the first period. Troy Martyniuk made 22 saves on 24 shots in relief. The Wolverines outshot the Flyers 37-32. Winkler was 0-for-3 on the power-play and 2-for-3 on the penalty-kill.
The Flyers (24-14-0) will return home for the first time since December 16th when they host the Steinbach Pistons on Tuesday, January 9th. The game sponsor will be Piston Ring. Puck drop at the Winkler Rec Complex is 7:30pm with advance tickets available at the Winkler Coop Gas Bar, Petro Canada Gas Bar or at the door prior to the game.
GREAT CANADIAN OIL CHANGE THREE STARS
1ST STAR – F PRESTON SEYMOUR (WAYWAY)
2ND STAR - D DARREN GISTI (WAYWAY)
3RD STAR – F BRANDON LAWSON (WAYWAY)