The Selkirk Steelers split a pair of home games last week at the Selkirk Recreational Complex, rallying late in a narrow loss to Winkler before responding with a seven-goal outburst against Swan Valley in MJHL action.
Selkirk fell 3–2 to the Winkler Flyers on Tuesday, Jan. 6 after trailing 3–0 early in the third period. Winkler built its lead on first-period goals from Cole Gudmundson and Liam Carlone, with Carlone scoring on the power play. The Flyers added what proved to be the winner at 5:32 of the third when William Lyons converted on the power play to make it 3–0.
Steelers goaltender Ethan Sawyer made 31 saves in his team’s 3–2 loss to the Winkler Flyers
The Steelers pushed back late. Dawson Madden got Selkirk on the board at 14:43 and the home side made it a one-goal game with nine seconds left when Landon Pue scored a power-play goal at 19:51. Winkler outshot Selkirk 34-32, with Steelers goaltender Ethan Sawyer making 31 saves in the loss.
Selkirk bounced back Saturday, Jan. 10 with a 7–4 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders, scoring on the power play three times and piling up a 48–21 advantage in shots. Madden opened the scoring late in the first period on the power play, and Selkirk added two more man-advantage goals early in the second from Owen Branson and Remy Hlady to take control.
After Swan Valley pulled within 3–1 late in the second, the game opened up in the third with seven goals in the final 20 minutes. Pue scored 1:43 into the period, and Selkirk sealed it late with goals from Nolan Wytrykusz and Peyten Legg-Cote, before Kayden Turner added an empty-netter at 18:09. Goaltender Hudson Hunnie finished with 17 saves as the Steelers improved to 16-16-2 on the season.
“It was great for the guys to get rewarded and get in the win column again,” said head coach Hudson Friesen. “It’s been tough sledding so for the guys to have some confidence to fill the net and getting seven goals was nice for us. We came out hot, I thought we started the game really well, and the first period was very dominant, and we could have been up by three or four after the first. I thought we carried that through to the second, and then we had a little bit of the lull, especially in the third period, we let Swan back in it which isn’t really the way we want to play but at the same time I thought we did a good job just staying with it and be resilient, and finding a way to get that win and fill the net there, so lots of positives to build on for sure.”
With 34 points in 34 games, Selkirk sits fifth in the MGEU East Division, behind Winkler and ahead of the Winnipeg Blues.
The Steelers hit the road this week for three straight, visiting Winkler on Jan. 13, Niverville on Jan. 15 and Portage on Jan. 17, before returning home to host Virden on Jan. 18 and the Winnipeg Monarchs on Jan. 20.
“We’re really building in the right direction here,” said Friesen. “We’re definitely back in game shape, and now we’ve got our minds kind of back in the right place, and I think our group’s very motivated to build on the success we had on Saturday and keep pushing for the playoffs here. We have 23 games left and every game here matters a ton, so it’s going to be exciting push for the guys, and I know that they’re motivated and excited here to go.”
