The Stampeders kicked off a 3 game road trip tonight in Winkler, and came away with a 3-2 shootout win.
The Stampeders were looking to build off their recent win against the Selkirk Steelers last Sunday on home ice.
The opening frame was back and forth action with Swan coming away with the majority of the scoring chances.
A turnover in the neutral zone just over 4 minutes into the game proved costly as Everett Bestland skated over the blue-line and snapped home his 2nd of the year. Penalty trouble would take over for Swan, but their penalty killers were up to the task, killing of back-to-back tripping calls to Tanner Glasrud. Swan continued to push the play and would eventually find the equalizer. Josh Beauchemin tied the game with 1 second left in the opening frame on a pass from Mattias Dal Monte. After 20 minutes of play the score was 1-1 and the shots were 11-10 in favour of Swan.
Th Stampeders would gain a 5 min power play early on in the 2nd period and they would capitalize. John Jebamani let a shot go from the point that beat Dorrin Luding 2:12 into the period. Swan Valley was all over the Winkler Flyers not allowing a shot on goal until the 12 minute mark of the middle frame. Swan Valley dominated the second period only allowing 5 shots on goal.
The script was completely flipped in the 3rd period as the Winkler Flyers took the play to Swan, only allowing 4 shots on goal. The Flyers would eventually tie the game as Mateo Albinati would fire home his 5th of the year at 16:20, sending the game to overtime.
The fans in Winkler were certainly treated to an exciting overtime period of hockey tonight. Both teams battled it out through 5 minutes of 3-on-3 overtime, but neither team could grab the extra point. The game would need a shootout to solve a winner.
Shootout results
Cattani – X
Carl – X
McCarthy – X
Dodd – X
Poolman – X
Schroder – ✔️
Mikael Foucher stopped all three shooters he faced, and Trevor Schroder would become the hero tonight scoring the only goal in the shootout.
The Stampeders picked up a massive two points on the road tonight and improved their record to 13-6-2 on the season.
Final shots
Swan – 29
Winkler – 31
The two teams will have a quick turnaround and will see one another tomorrow night in Winkler for game 2 of 3 on their road trip. Puck drop is 7:30pm.