Portage was off to a great start opening the scoring just 5:02 in to the first with Enns’ shot finding the back of the net on the powerplay. Special teams would prove to be important as the next 5 goals would come with the extra man advantage. Sokoloski makes it 2-0 Portage scoring his 14th of the season at 13:35. Thiessen gets Virden on the board with a minute to go in the first on a 5 on 3 to close the gap to one heading in to the dressing room.
Just over a minute apart halfway through the second, Brakel and Virden’s Thiessen trade goals for a 3-2 Portage lead after 40 minutes.
8:28 in to the third, Tyler Kirkup tied the game at 3. Riley Thiessen picked up his second of the year to once again edge the Oil Caps by one. With 6:28 to go in the 3rd Hardy beat Aiken on the powerplay and Virden never looked back. They went on to score 3 more – Dalke x 2 and Lycar with the empty netter for a 7-4 final.
Virden would end the night 5 for 6 on the powerplay while the Terriers went 3 for 4.
”(Virden’s) powerplay was really good here tonight,” says Terriers’ head coach Blake Spiller. “We didn’t find ways to defend against it. They’ve got five forwards on it and they move the puck around real well. As for the penalties, I thought we took a few we didn’t need to and a few were questionable. We knew coming in their powerplay game was their whole game coming in and if you plan to play the special teams game, it’s going to be tough to beat them.”
Portage hits the road to Virden today for their first game of the New Year. The Terriers will be looking to redeem the loss.