The Orange and Black capped off their pre-season schedule with a 6-1 victory over the visiting Neepawa Natives. Brett Opperman scored twice, helping the Flyers finish the exhibition season with a 6-0 record.

After beating the Natives the night before in Neepawa, the Flyers returned home for the final game of their six game pre-season schedule. It was a physical and emotional game with 102 minutes in penalties handed out between the two teams.

The Flyers got off to good start in front of a great pre-season crowd, scoring the game’s first goal just 3:08 into the game. It was rookie defenseman CJ Corazzin picking up the short-handed goal, giving Winkler the early 1-0 lead.

After recording four assists the night before, Cole Kirkup scored with four and a half minutes left in the first to increase Winkler’s lead to 2-0. Not even a minute later, the Natives scored on the power-play to cut the Flyers’ lead to 2-1 before intermission.

The Flyers opened things up in the second and took control of the game with three more goals. Brett Opperman, Trent Halfdanson and Mitch Dyck all scored for the Flyers who were now up 5-1 through 40 minutes.

With 8:41 gone in the third, Opperman scored his second of the night and Winkler had a 6-1 lead.

Aaron Brunn got the start for Winkler and played a fantastic game, making 20 saves. Winkler outshot Neepawa 32-21. Winkler was 1-for-5 on the power-play and 6-for-7 on the penalty-kill.

Head Coach and General Manager Ken Pearson will now get the club’s opening day roster set before the team starts the 2017-18 regular season in Neepawa on Friday, September 22nd. Stay tuned to www.winklerflyers.com or @winklerflyers on Twitter for any roster updates.

The Flyers would like to thank Crocus Real Estate for all of their support throughout the preseason. With the support of Crocus Real Estate, admission for all Flyers exhibition home games was free of charge.

GREAT CANADIAN OIL CHANGE THREE STARS

1ST STAR – F BRETT OPPERMAN (WINKLER)

2ND STAR – F WILL BLAKE (WINKLER)

3RD STAR – F TRENT HALFDANSON (WINKLER)

GAME STATS