Photo: Ryan Sawatzky
Lucas Ens scored 7:14 into the first overtime period in game three of the MJHL Final to give the Winkler Flyers a 4-3 win and a 3-0 series lead over the Steinbach Pistons.
“Our group is a really hungry group, we really want it this year,” shared Lucas Ens, moments after scoring the winner in overtime. “A lot of the guys who came back from last year lost in game seven to these guys (Steinbach) and we don’t forget that kind of stuff, we’ve got a fire that’s burning really bright right now.”
Pistons captain, Leo Chambers, scored his 6th of the postseason in the 1st period to give Steinbach a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes of play.
The Winkler Flyers got off to a strong start in the 2nd period and scored a pair of goals in under five minutes to take 2-1 lead. Brody Beauchemin scored for a second straight game while Jayce Legaarden added his 7th of the playoffs.
With under two minutes to play in the 2nd, Trey Sauder scored on the powerplay to tie the game up for the Pistons, only to have the Flyers take the lead with 7 seconds left off a nice shot from Avery Anderson.
Just 2:09 into the 3rd, Jack Cook fired a puck at the net from the point that beat a screened Malachi Klassen to tie the game up at 3-3. Both teams traded chances in the remainder of the period but for the first time in this series, overtime would be needed to reward a winner.
With under three minutes to play in overtime, Isaiah Peters’s shot bounced off of Cole Plowman with the rebound coming to the stick of Lucas Ens who chipped it in for the overtime winner.
Malachi Klassen stopped 24/27 shots in the win for the Flyers, improving his record in the postseason to 11-3.
Game four is set for Friday night in Winkler when the Flyers will have a chance to hoist the Turnbull Cup on home ice. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM.
