The Oil Caps, the MJHL MGEU West Division’s top seed, beat the No. 4-seeded Neepawa Titans, 4-2, in their best-of-seven playoff series. The Virden squad wrapped up the series with a 4-3 road victory on Tuesday night.
The Titans had won game four, 4-1, on March 28 to even the series at 2-2. Virden took back the series lead with a 3-2 game five victory on home ice last Sunday in front of 1,067.
The Oil Capitals will now take on the Winkler Flyers in the second round of the playoffs. A schedule was not available at the Empire-Advance deadline.
In the regular season, Virden had a 40-12-3-3 record. The Flyers compiled a 42-11-2-3 record to finished second in the MGEU East Division. Winkler defeated the Portage Terriers, 4-1, in the opening round.
Against the Titans, Lehto led Virden with eight points and six assists. Roux Bazin, Naton Miller, and Virden’s own Bryce Bryant all scored three goals. Fellow hometown product Eric Reid was in net for all six games. Reid had a 2.58 goals against average.
For the Flyers, Malachi Klassen was 4-1-0-0 in the first round. His GAA was 2.36. Jayce Legaarden paced Winkler with five goals. Legaarden, Trent Penner, and Avery Anderson all had six points. Dalton Andrew and Isaiah Peters each had a team-high five assists.
Game Six - Oil Caps 4, Titans 3
On April 2 in Neepawa, a three-goal third period outburst lifted the Oil Caps past the Titans and into the next round. After a scoreless first period, Virden product Grady Lane scored for the Oil Capitals in the second. The Titans responded with goals in the frame from Ewan Poirier and Hayden Stocks.
A minute and 11 seconds into the third, Lane struck again. His powerplay marker knotted the game at 2-2. Bazin put the Oil Caps on top 3-2. Virden’s own Braeden Lewis picked up his second assist of the night after stealing the puck and finding Evan Groening, who increased his team’s lead to 4-2. In the final two minutes, Neepawa got a goal from Logan Paquette, but the Oil Caps prevented the Titans from tying things up.
Reid stopped 22 of the Titans’ 25 shots. Mason Lobreau of the Titans had 29 saves.
Game Five - Oil Caps 3, Titans 2
All of the offence came in the second period on March 31 in Virden. Oil Capitals defenceman Tyler Dodgson scored shorthanded in that frame to make it a 1-0 game. Logan Paquette and Brendan Quinn-Lagria lit lamp to put the Titans up 2-1. Miller tied things at 11:15. Forty-one seconds later Moosomin’s Marshall Light scored what would stand up as the game winner for Virden in his first playoff appearance of 2024. For the Oil Caps, Layton Veitch assisted on two of his team’s goals.
Reid made 28 saves. Lobreau stopped 33 shots. Virden head coach Tyson Ramsey was pleased with the team’s compete level.
“From start to finish, I thought we competed very hard on every puck and were physical especially up ice on our forecheck,” he said. “This allowed us some extended time in the offensive zone, and we were able to wear them down throughout the course of the game.”
Game Four - Titans 4, Oil Caps 1
On March 28, the teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after two periods in Neepawa. The Titans scored three goals in the third to secure the victory.
“In Friday's game, we were sloppy in certain parts of the game and that led to mistakes that gave them too many real good chances and they have guys that can score,” Ramsey said. “Our unforced errors gave them too much momentum in the game and when we didn't capitalize on our grade A chances, it forced us to chase too much of the game.”
Bryant had Virden’s lone goal. Reid made 27 saves on 31 shots.
Scoring for the Titans were Connor Thompson, John Baird, Dawson Andries, and Stocks. Lobreau had 40 saves.
