The Steinbach Pistons came out to a rowdy hometown crowd and made sure the fans went home happy after securing a game one win 4-0 on Friday night over the Swan Valley Stampeders. 

In the first game of the best of seven series, it was the hardworking working line of Tanner Mole, Brady Tatro and Easton Bennett working hard below the goal line before working the puck out front where Mole batted in his first of the game, 1-0 Steinbach. Bennett had the lone assist on the opening goal.

Steinbach made it 2-0 as captain Braden Purtill scored in his first game back since late January. "It was pretty special, that's for sure," head coach Paul Dyck said after the game. "He worked hard to get back and for him to get that goal and really feel apart of it all again, that's the best way for him to start the playoffs, for sure." Tyson McConnell had the lone assist on the goal.

In the second, Jaret Lalli kept a Stampeders clearing attempt in at the point, dumped the puck down to Bradley Schoonbaert who rifled a pass to Austin Heidemann and it was the rookie sensation snapping the puck home to make it 3-0 Steinbach. 

Tanner Mole capped off a big night with his second of the game, shorthanded and into an empty net to seal the deal for the Pistons with a 4-0 win in game 1.

Matthew Thiessen earned the 17 shot shutout on a night that he didn't face a lot of grade-A chances, yet still looked very solid. "I thought he played really well tonight," Dyck said after the final buzzer. "He was in good position all night, great rebound control and just overall very solid."

The power play had a few good looks but came up empty finishing 0-5 while the penalty kill looked very strong finishing 4-4 while allowing very few shots on goal.

Coaches Notes

Dyck knows that his team has more to give and they'll need it tomorrow as Swan will be looking to even up the series before heading back to Swan on Tuesday. "They'll be hungry for sure, they're gonna come out and battle, we'll need to be ready. I think we can push the pace more tomorrow. We dumped a lot of pucks in and we were the first ones on it, that's always a good sign. I thought we kept it simple and did the little things right to come out on top tonight. We need to keep pushing into game 2 tomorrow night."

The art of the blocked shot is not something that's lost on former defence star Paul Dyck. "We got into shooting lanes tonight and paid the price. Shorthanded we were aggressive and made it difficult to get pucks through." 

Up Next

The Pistons and the Stampeders will battle in game 2 Saturday night at the TG Smith Centre. The game will be on Mix 96 and SteinbachOnline.com with the pre-game show starting just after 7:00 and puck drop set for 7:30 pm.

3 Stars

3rd - Riese Gaber

2nd - Tanner Mole

1st - Matthew Thiessen.