Winnipeg, MB. – The Swan Valley Stampeders won their third straight game and moved into first place in the MGEU West Division, defeating the Winnipeg Freeze 8-1 Friday night at the Hockey for all Centre.
The Stampeders offence was led by Adam Rajsigl (1G, 2A), Justin Keck, Jakob Jones, Trey Sauder, Josh Danis, Myles Mason, Warren Marcotte and Griffin Ayotte all collected 1G, 1A, while Kobe Grant stopped 32/33 shots he faced, earning his 22nd win of the year.
The Story
Despite a solid opening period, the Stampeders found themselves tied 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. The Freeze opened the scoring Friday night at the Hockey for all Centre as Elliot Perreault cleaned up a rebound, beating Grant 3:31 into the game. The Stampeders found themselves in penalty trouble, but it was the offence that came alive. Jakob Jones danced his way up the ice and found a wide open Adam Rajsigl who deposited his 10th of the season, short-handed, six minutes later.
The second period was all Stampeders, scoring four straight goals. Trey Sauder drove the net and poked home his 23rd of the season at 4:53. Warren Marcotte snuck in off the blue-line and snapped home his 10th of the year, scoring 31 seconds later. Josh Danis found the back of the net at 12:45 and Myles Mason scored on a penalty shot at 14:43 and the Stampeders held a 5-1 lead heading into the third period.
Justin Keck added to his point totals, scoring his 28th of the season at 2:48 of the third period. Jakob Jones jumped into third place in the league, scoring his 29th of the season 42 seconds later and Griffin Ayotte added his sixth of the year, 34 seconds after that and the Stampeders skated to a dominating 8-1 win. Grant stopped 32/33 shots he faced helping his team overtake first place in the MGEU West Division.
Final Shots on Goal
Swan Valley – 50
Winnipeg Freeze – 33
What’s Next?
The Stampeders will regroup and finish off their road trip with a game against the Selkirk Steelers Saturday, Mar. 4 before returning home to the Valley for three straight games next week.
Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. and can be viewed on hockeytv.com.
Upcoming home games to note
- Wednesday Mar. 8 – 7:00pm vs Neepawa – Pizza Place game night
- Friday Mar. 10 – 7:00pm vs Steinbach – Original 16 game night
- Saturday Mar. 11 – 7:00pm vs Niverville – Special Olympics game night
- Friday Mar. 17 – 7:00pm vs Virden – MGEU game night