Tristan Keck scored his second goal of the game with 9.9 seconds left in overtime to lift the Winkler Flyers to a 2-1 home ice victory over the Selkirk Steelers. Adam Vander Linden kicked aside 29 of the 30 shots he faced while earning his second victory of the season.
With two days off since their last game, the Flyers returned home for their first meeting of the season against the Steelers. After beating Selkirk twice during preseason, the Orange and Black were poised to do the same during the regular season.
The Flyers took the play to Selkirk in the opening frame and drew first blood with 5:57 left in the period. Defenseman Connor Hamonic passed the puck up to Shawn Pachet who found Tristan Keck up near the Steelers blueline. Keck then cut to the middle of the ice and fired a wrist shot between the legs of the Selkirk defenseman and over the shoulder of the goaltender giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
Winkler outshot the Steelers 17-6 through the first 20 minutes, but were forced to settle for only a 1-0 lead heading into the intermission. Selkirk managed to outshoot the Flyers 12-6 in the second period but the Flyers still led the game 1-0 heading into the third.
The Steelers were able to tie the game at one, 5:38 into the third period and with the score remaining tied through regulation, the game was headed for overtime.
With the five minute overtime period nearly at and end, Tristan Keck was able to send the home crowd happy for the second time this season. Skating down the left wing, Keck made his way towards the front of the net and scored his second goal of the game over the right shoulder of Steelers goaltender Nathan Park to secure the 2-1 victory. Evan Last and Connor Hamonic drew the assists on Keck’s third goal of the season.
Adam Vander Linden had another strong game in goal for Winkler making 29 saves while improving his record to 2-0. Winkler out-shot Selkirk 34-30 overall. The Flyers were 0-for-3 on the power-play and 2-for-2 on the penalty-kill.
The Flyers (2-1) will host the Dauphin Kings (2-0) on Friday, September 26th in their next game. Puck drop at the Winkler Recreation Complex is 7:30pm. Winkler had a 2-2 record against the Kings last season.