The Steinbach Pistons improved to 8-0 on the season as Roman Bengert displayed brilliant goaltending again in a 6-1 win over the Winkler Flyers on Wednesday night. 

The first period could easily be called "The Roman Bengert Show" as the 20 year old from Nova Scotia put on a clinic. The shots in the period were 24-11 as wave after wave of Winkler attackers were turned away by both Bengert and solid defensive play. The always humble Bengert was quick to put the praise on team mates. "I felt pretty good and have for a while now but again, the defence is clearing out in front and it's a complete team effort." At the mid-way point of the period, Julien Koga tapped home a loose puck on the power play to make it 1-0 Steinbach with assists to Jordan Bochinski and Landon Plett.

In the second period, Vaughn Dupre (who is celebrating his birthday on Thursday) got himself an early present as he took a Flyers turnover and scored his first in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. Mack Graham would convert on another Pistons power play, deflecting home a Mark Taraschuk point shot to make it 3-0. Darby Gula had the secondary assist.

In the final period of regulation, Bochinski was charged with a double minor for high sticking but the Pistons were the ones to take advantage as Koga and Plett ripped down the ice on a two on one. Koga hesitated just long enough to get the Flyers defender to commit before putting a tape-to-tape pass to Plett who made no mistake giving him 8 goals in 8 games. Plett knows that his line is more then just offence. "It's a lot of fun, I love playing with those guys, a lot of credit goes to Koga and Bochinski but it's just a blast. I'm having a real great time here, I love the winning and I can't wait for the next game." After Nolan McGuire broke the Bengert shutout bid, the Pistons roared back with goals from Bradley Schoonbaert from Mack Graham and Declan Graham and Mack Graham picking up his second of the game from Schoonbaert and Will Koop.

Although when the final buzzer sounded and the scoreboard showed a 6-1 win for Steinbach, assistant/video coach Graham Pollock knows there is room for improvement. "It could have been 5-1 for them after the first if it wasn't for Roman. We weren't skating, we were stick checking, we didn't have the body in our zone and we didn't establish any kind of presence in our zone. When you give up 24 shots in a period against a team like Winkler, you're going to pay but we were fortunate that Roman as on his "A" game tonight. Yes, we're happy with the win but what the team needs to realize is that we're the top of the league right now and we have a target on our back. Every single team that comes to play us is going to bring their "A" game because they want to knock us off. Our guys have to learn that the bad habits that you get away with (at times), you can't get away with all the time. Happy with the win, not happy at all about the first but happy with how we responded."

The Pistons head on the road for two games this weekend against two struggling clubs, the Swan Valley Stampeders and the Dauphin Kings. Assistant captain Tyler Anderson talked about the need to be focused heading into the road trip. "I don't think we look at the standings. Coach Paul (Dyck) really stresses that we have to get up for every single game. The leadership group knows that and we do our best to make sure the boys are ready for every single time we touch the ice."

Don't miss a moment of Saturday nights game against the Dauphin Kings on Mix 96 and SteinbachOnline.com with the pre game show starting at 7:15pm.