Coming into Tuesday night, the Flyers were tied with the Portage Terriers for third place in the MGEU East at 65 points, and looked to move up in the standings as they tangled with a tough opponent in the Neepawa Titans.
Winker was playing without team captain Kam Thomas as well as leading scored Nik Gudmundson but they showed no signs of slowing down on the attack. Tanner George scored his 5th goal in 4 games under 3 minutes into the game as the Flyers moved the puck well and made things tough for the Titans in their defensive zone. Scoring his 3rd goal in 2 games, Charles Bernier tipped home a Jack Swaenepoel point shot to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead and headed into the first intermission looking solid.
Neepawa tried to turn the tables in the second frame and managed 10 shots on goal during the period, however, Winkler found a way to keep the pressure on and managed the puck well in their own end, while firing 18 shots on the Titans goal. Liam Ernst made some really key saves, among which a beautiful sprawling stop to keep the sheet clean. Rhylan Baxter scored the lone marker of the period as the Flyers moved into a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes.
The Flyers poured it on in the last period, and held strong on the few high danger scoring chances the Titans managed. Ryan Winklebleck scored twice in the 3rd, adding to his scoring outburst of 7 points in the last 2 games. One goal even strength at the 9:54 mark, and again on the man advantage with just over 4 minutes left to play (15:58).
Winkler skated to a 5-0 victory and the news of the night was Liam Ernst earning his 15th career MJHL shutout and the overall franchise lead in that category. The Flyers now sit alone in 3rd place ahead of Portage as they head into the weekend for a home game vs the NorMan Blizzard Friday night, and a trip to Winnipeg to take on the Blues Sunday afternoon.
