The Portage Terriers took to the ice at Stride Place in a game situation for the first time in three weeks tonight. They were up against the Winnipeg Blues. These two teams were trending in opposite directions heading into tonight with the Terriers on a six game win streak and the Blues on a four game losing skid. It was Teddy Bear Toss night at Stride Place along with a special ceremony to honour Goaltending Coach Jim Tkachyk, Assistant Coach Paul Harland and Head Coach and General Manager Blake Spiller. The trio was celebrated for their contribution to the most successful era of Terrier hockey thus far along with picking up their 500th coaching victories.  Despite a two-goal lead heading into the third, Portage just couldn't get the job done tonight, falling 4-3 in a shootout.

When the game kicked off, the Blues were hungry to end their skid, taking it to the Dogs and attacking with speed. Their effort would pay off when just over five minutes in, Brayden Foreman would be the recipient of a beautiful two on none when the Dogs turned the puck over at their blue line while attempting to break out of their zone. It would stay that way for nearly the rest of the frame. Portage got a power play halfway through the first but Blues' netminder Jeremy Link made a couple of acrobatic stops to hold onto the lead. Then, with less than ten seconds remaining, Joey Moffat gained the offensive zone and found a streaking Lane Taylor who wired a wrister glove side, beating Link and showering the ice with teddy bears. The teams would head to the dressing room amidst stuffed animals all tied at one.

In the second, some bad blood would boil over. Early on, Ocean Wiesblatt levelled Foreman with a hit right in front of the Terrier bench that sent him to the ice for a few minutes. While discussing penalties with the referees, Ty Barnstable and Kelton Sutherland started disagreeing and the two captains had to be broken up. Shortly after, with the Terriers on the power play, Logan Calder potted his fifth of the season when he walked out from the corner and beat Link short side. Then, it was Peterson's time to shine. With Winnipeg pressing, Cody Behun had the puck at the faceoff dot and Peterson flashed the leather to keep the Dogs' lead intact. With four minutes left in the second, Moffat would finish a beautiful pass from Caelan McPhee, beating Link top corner over the glove, pushing the Terriers' lead to two and that's how the second would end.

The third period belonged to the Winnipeg Blues. They pressured the Terriers and got under their skin, slowing the game down and taking advantage of their chances. Jeremy Link as he has done before, seemed to take Winnipeg on his shoulders and stop anything that came his way. With just under ten minutes gone in the frame, Braeden Binda banged in a loose puck during a scrum in front of Peterson making it a one-goal game. Then, at the twelve-minute mark Jayson Szun let a wrister fly from the faceoff circle that Peterson got a piece of but not enough as it trickled in off his glove. The teams would be tied after 60 minutes so overtime was needed.

The Terriers had some good chances in overtime, but again, Link seemed to have the Dogs' number. The extra five minutes would solve nothing so we went to a shootout. Tyler Van Deynze scored first for Portage while Cody Thompson, Kolton Shindle and Joey Moffat came up empty. Peterson stopped Ty Naaykens and Kelton Sutherland before Thomas Hansell and Coby Stauss ended the game.

Head Coach Blake Spiller spoke about the third and what happened to the Terrier lead.

"They're a young team, we're a young team," says Spiller. "Sometimes that stuff gets the best of you. I thought we were outplaying them to that point but once the altercations and that stuff started I thought they played better as the third went on."

The Terriers will be back on the ice on Tuesday, Nov .27th when they will look to start a new winning streak. They are in Morden to face the Winkler Flyers. Game time is 7:30 pm.