Cole Weaver earned his second straight shutout as the Flyers beat the Virden Oil Capitals 4-0 on Sunday night. Brayden Cullum, Nico Labossiere and Gino Lucia each recorded two points as the Orange and Black won their ninth straight game at home.

After successfully beating the visiting Swan Valley Stampeders 4-0 on Friday night, to kick off their Parent-Billet appreciation weekend, the Winkler Flyers played host the Virden Oil Capitals. The two teams had met twice before, with the Oil Caps winning both games.

The Flyers had a nice start to the game, and played a fast and physical brand of hockey. After a series of constant pressure, the Flyers opened the scoring 3:23 into the game. After taking the pass from Scott Gall, Will Blake found defenseman Garrett Kuklica up near the blueline and the rookie scored his second of the year to give Winkler a 1-0 lead.

Just minutes later, rookie forward Jacob Lacasse tipped in a Tyler Lindstrom point shot to score his second goal in as many games and the Flyers lead had doubled to 2-0. Braden Billaney also assisted on Lacasse’s second goal of the year.

Winkler continued to frustrate the Oil Caps in the second period, and did not allow a shot on goal until well past the halfway point of the period. With 5:46 left in the middle period, Nico Labossiere put home a rebound to extend Winkler’s lead to 3-0. Brayden Cullum and Gino Lucia assisted on Labossiere’s third of the season and first since September 30th.

The Flyers put the game away early in the third when the same three players connected again. This time it was Cullum scoring his third as a Flyer with Labossiere and Lucia assisting.

The rest was up to goaltender Cole Weaver who was fantastic again for Winkler stopping all 26 shots he faced. It was the rookie goaltender’s third shutout of the year and second in as many games. Weaver’s shutout streak now sits at 179:03 minutes.

Winkler outshot the Oil Capitals 30-26 overall. Winkler went 0-for-7 on the power-play and 4-for-4 on the penalty-kill.

The Flyers (18-7-0) will hit the road on Wednesday night to face off against the Portage Terriers (16-6-0). Winkler is 2-1 against Portage this season. Puck drop at the PCU Centre in Portage is 7:30pm with the pregame show on Country 88.9FM and online at www.pembinavalleyonline.com getting underway at 7:25pm. The win moves the Flyers just one point back of the second place OCN Blizzard and three points behind the first place Steinbach Pistons.

 

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GREAT CANADIAN OIL CHANGE THREE STARS

1ST STAR – G COLE WEAVER (WINKLER)

2ND STAR – D CONNOR HAMONIC (WINKLER)

3RD STAR – F GINO LUCIA (WINKLER)

GAME STATS