The Steinbach Pistons used three third period goals to skate away with a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Blues on Friday night.

Both teams traded chances early in the first period before the Blues struck first at the midway point. Levi Cudmore made it 1-0 Winnipeg. The Blues looked like the better team through the first 15 minutes of the game before the Pistons turned it on late and started to put the Blues back on their heels. Steinbach had the edge in shots 14-11 but trailed heading into the second.

In the middle frame, the Pistons continued to push for the equalizer but a miscue at the blueline gave Kelton Sutherland a breakaway and he scored to make it 2-0. 

The Pistons thought they had the game tied in that second period with two goals that were both disallowed for different reasons. First, Bradley Schoonbaert rifled a one-timer into the open cage but it was called back to due to a Pistons player being deemed in the crease, causing the goalie to be unable to make the save. The second, a puck deflected off Schoonbaerts skate and appeared to get past the Blues goalie and after a brief scramble in the crease, the red light did go on for a second but then quickly shut off. The referee arrived late behind the net and made no motion whether it was a goal or not. After a lengthy conversation between the referee, the linesmen and even the goal judge, the goal was called back.

After all the dust settled, it remained 2-0 Winnipeg after 40 minutes.

The third period got started quickly for the Pistons as Drew Anderson snapped home a wrist shot after some good work in the corner from Brady Tatro to cut the lead to 2-1. It was Anderson's first of the season. Easton Bennett also had the assist along with Tatro.

Just over six minutes later with the Pistons on the power play, Steinbach ramped up the pressure and were rewarded with a goal off the stick from Mark Taraschuk. It was the defenders second of the year and it was his biggest of the season so far. "The first two periods we struggled." The 20-year-old said after the game. "To have a couple goals called back and battle through, it feels pretty good." Jack Johnson picked up the lone assist on the power play marker.

With under six minutes to go in the game and the Blues pressing to get the go-ahead goal, Braden Purtill stripped his man of the puck and chipped it out of the zone towards Schoonbaert who along with Austin Heidemann broke out into a two on one. Schoonbaert delivered a beauty pass that sent Heidemann in alone and he made no mistake for his second of the year giving Steinbach that 3-2 lead.

"It was a great pass and no better way to cap off the game," Heidemann said after the contest."Getting to play with guys like Purtill and Schoonbaert, it puts your confidence through the roof, those guys do the little things right and are great examples of how to play."

The Pistons held on to take the 3-2 win at home pushing their record to 7-2 through the first 9 games of the season.

Lost in the dramatics of the comeback and disallowed goals was the performance of goaltender Matthew Thiessen who was rock solid making 27 saves, including late in the third period stopping Blues leading scorer Dexter Kuczek on a breakaway to preserve the victory.

The power play finished 1-6 while the penalty kill was strong again finishing 5-5.

In his first year in Steinbach, Heidemann was blown away by the response from the home fans when he was named the games 1st star. "It's something I never thought would happen." Said the 18 year old through a big smile, "I can't really describe it."

The same two teams meet in Winnipeg Saturday night. The game will be broadcast on Mix 96 and SteinbachOnline.com with the pre-game show starting at 7:15 pm and puck drop set for 7:30 pm.

 Note: The Pistons made a trade following the game sending '98 forward Drew Anderson and '99 defenseman Alec Severson to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines for '98 forward Brendan Martin. 

More details on the trade coming up during the broadcast of Saturday's game and Monday morning on SteinbachOnline.com