Virden, Wayway start semifinals strong

The Virden Oil Capitals and Waywayseecappo Wolverines have proved to be tough outs once again.

Both Westman clubs picked up wins over the weekend to put themselves in a strong spot heading into Game 3 of their respective best-of-seven, second-round series in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

OIL CAPS GO UP 2-0

Bryce Bryant hit the back of the net three times and Liam Goertzen, Dysen Drake, Marshall Light, Cohen Lewko and Tyson Ulmer all chalked one up on the board as Virden pulled apart the Steinbach Pistons 8-4 in Game 2 to snatch away home ice advantage and take a 2-0 series lead headed back home to Tundra Oil & Gas Place.

Zhenya Miles, Liam Doyle, Luke Bogart and Connor Paronuzzi found twine for the Pistons and netminder Chris Quizi turned aside 27 shots in the loss, while Virden’s Braxton Burdeny totalled 33 saves in the win.

Bryant, who leads all players in post-season scoring with eight goals and 15 points, also hit the back of the net twice in a two-minute span to help his squad to a 6-4 victory over the Pistons in Game 1 at the Southeast Event Centre on Friday evening.

The 19-year-old forward has continued his offensive dominance following his 81-point mark in the regular season and is a big reason why the Oil Capitals find themselves in the best scenario heading into this evening’s contest at home.

“It’s nice to get the first two games out of the way, especially playing in Steinbach,” Bryant said on Monday. “It’s a tough place to play for a road team, but to get those two wins and come home with two games here, only in front of our own fans, is really nice.

“We definitely didn’t expect to score as many goals as we did, especially as early as we did, but it does just show our depth and that everyone can score because everyone was contributing at different times throughout the two games, which is just huge.”

Virden fired off the first three goals of the game, before taking 3-1 leads after 20 minutes in both contests, which has helped them focus on simply defending. In fact, Steinbach has not held a lead for even a second through the first two outings.

Bryant believes it’s a testament to his team’s depth and work ethic.

“I think it’s just straight up hard work,” he said. “Every line kind of knows what their job is and each time they go on the ice, they just have to execute that, and when they do they’re able to find the back of the net.

“I think earlier in the season we obviously had a couple games against them that were pretty close, but we’ve definitely gotten deeper as the season went on and better overall, so I think they’re definitely a little shocked when we came in there and scored those three goals right off the bat in the first period.”

Bryant and company have found plenty of success in the offensive department thanks to their quick transition off the rush game. They can go from defence to offence in a flash and it’s helped them put Steinbach’s structure in a blender, which isn’t a problem they faced very often during the season as the second stingiest team in the league with just 131 goals allowed.

Virden also hasn’t had any problems solving Quizi between the pipes with 14 goals scored on him in two games, as head coach and GM Paul Dyck opted not to pull him. If he’s looking to change some looks for Game 3, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give the nod to Easton Thvedt, a five-foot-11, 160-pound backup who went 19-3 in 22 appearances with a 1.97 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.

The Oil Capitals now have eight players in the lineup who are over a point per game in the playoffs: Bryant (2.5), Drake (1.5), Brooks Siemens (1.33), and Light, Goertzen, Lewko, Colten Worthington, and Osiowy (1.17).

Bryant is aware the Pistons will be making some adjustments to counteract his club’s attack, but believes they’ll be ready for it. Plus, they have the support of their home crowd.

“I’m pretty pumped,” said Bryant. “I think that everyone’s been waiting for us to get back on home ice, so it’s gonna be a pretty good crowd. I have lots of friends and family that are going to be there and people out of town, so I think it will be a good experience for the team and they’ll be pretty fired up.”

Following tonight’s matchup, the two will gear up for a quick turnaround with Game 4 on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

WOLVERINES SPLIT

Dylan Hebert’s first marker of the playoffs less than six minutes into the third frame was enough to lift the Wolverines to a 3-1 triumph over the No. 1 seed Niverville Nighthawks in Game 2 to earn a 1-1 series split headed back on the road for Game 3.

Dylan Duzan and Sebastien Hicks also hit the back of the net for Wayway, while goaltender Jase Wareham continued his post-season brilliance with a 27-save performance in the win. Kole Mears tallied the lone goal for Niverville and Austin Dubinsky turned aside 23 shots in the loss.

“It’s been a tight series so far,” said Wareham. “Low-scoring games and everyone’s working real hard. Everything’s tight checking and I expect the same thing going forward with the rest of the series, it’s just gonna be every mistake is critical and we just have to limit those and I think we’ll be fine.”

This series has been the polar opposite to the Oil Capitals/Pistons series, as Game 1 was also a low-scoring affair after the Nighthawks prevailed 2-1 thanks to goals from former Brandon Wheat King Hayden Wheddon — the MJHL’s leading scorer during the regular season with 90 points — and Adam Vigfusson, who tallied the game winner on the man advantage less than eight minutes into the final frame.

Noah Oughton got on the board for Wayway.

The Wolverines still have a lot of work to do if they want to take down the big guns three more times, but one is certainly not just a step in the right direction, but another spark to the significant momentum they’ve built ever since their sweep of the Dauphin Kings in Round 1. They’ve been underdogs in both rounds and it’s a title they’re embracing.

Wareham, who currently leads all goaltenders in post-season save percentage (.951) and is second in GAA (1.59), believes being the dark horse in this playoff run is not a weakness, but an actual advantage in catching teams off guard.

“Obviously in the playoffs, even in the first round, we were underdogs, but I think our biggest thing is just our mentality and our confidence that we can go out there and win every game. We have that confidence that we’re better than whoever we’re playing against, even if we are the underdogs, and we just got to kind of keep that up going forward.

“We believe we can win every game, but we also have no pressure on us. We got nothing to lose and everyone expected us to lose in probably four games, so we’re just trying to prove people wrong.”

They’ve done a fine job of it so far and would have needed to do the same in Game 3, which was late Monday in a game that ended after deadline. Game 4 is Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Wayway and Game 5 is back in Niverville on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

With how much skill and depth the Nighthawks have up and down their lineup, it’s impressive how much the Wolverines have been able to contain them through two games, especially in Game 2.

After allowing the game-winning marker while down a man in the series opener, Wareham and his squad buckled down to go five-for-five on the penalty kill, which was no doubt the difference maker in the game. If they can keep playing a level game with their opponents on specialty teams and stick to five-on-five, they have a solid shot at an upset.

That is a big if, though.

In regards to attack, Wayway will also need to generate some more chances down their lineup, as Hicks leads the offence with five goals and four points, while their next highest point-getter is Duzan and Ben Roulette, who both carry five points.

“Niverville is obviously a very good team and they have a very good goalie,” Wareham said. “They defend well so we knew goals were going to be hard to come by and that we had to do the same thing in our own end and give up just as little. I think we just gotta keep getting to the net and find ways to bang home some rebounds and find some greasy goals and I think will be good.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com