The Winkler Flyers had the effort they needed Tuesday night in Steinbach but not the execution, as the Orange and Black fell 3-0 in their third meeting of the year against the Pistons. It was the clubs second straight loss but just their third regulation loss in their last twelve games.

It was a good opening 20 minutes of hockey for the Flyers as they kept the game scoreless through 20 minutes with three big penalty kills in the first. The second period was probably the best period for Winkler, but unfortunately they would fail to capitalize on their chance where the Pistons did not.

Steinbach opened the scoring 1:55 into the middle frame when Boedy Vaeth out muscled a Winkler defender in front of the net giving the home side a 1-0 lead. Throughout the period, the Flyers would continue to generate good chances but failed to pull the trigger. With 2:56 left in the period, Vaeth added his second of the game in very similar fashion to his first goal and the Flyers entered the second intermission down 2-0.

Early in the third period, Pistons captain Tyson McConnell found an open area in front of the Winkler net and gave the home side a 3-0 lead.

Flyers’ netminder Britt League played well despite the loss as the Flyers were outshot 25-18. Winkler was 0-for-3 on the power-play and 4-for-4 on the penalty-kill.

Winkler (11-8-2) will host the Dauphin Kings (10-10-1) in a pair of games this weekend. Friday night’s game will go at the Access Event Centre in Morden at 8pm, followed by Saturday’s game at 2:30pm. Both games can be streamed live on www.hockeytv.com. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Winkler Coop Gas Bar and Petro Canada Gas Bar in Winkler.

GAME STATS