Much better the second time around.

The Portage Terriers rolled past the Winnipeg Blues 6-1 in Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) hockey at Stride Place in Portage la Prairie last night.

It was a slow start to the rematch with only six shots between the two clubs in the first ten minutes of play. Portage seemed to find their legs before Winnipeg did and it proved to be the difference-maker in the frame. They got out front thanks to Ty Enns' powerplay goal with just over five minutes to go. The Dogs set up the umbrella and worked it perfectly along the point, Kain Stevenson to Riley Thiessen, then over to Enns who one-timed it top corner from the circle over Adam Derochie's blocker. Portage had a powerplay a couple of minutes before as well, but couldn't sustain any zone time. they finished the first with a 12-4 lead in shots and ahead 1-0 on the scoreboard.

"The first ten, for whatever reason, we weren't ready to go. After we had the (mid-period) timeout we got the boys going," says Pual Harland, Terriers assistant coach. "They played with more energy and desire after that and when we're moving our feet and skating, good things will happen for us."

The second period started with a big crash at one end of the ice when a Blues defender slammed into his netminder. Derochie remained down and the play continued, and the Terriers seemed to lose their positions. Winnipeg would capitalize on the confusion and tied the game at one. Derochie remained in the game after a short visit from the trainer. There was another scary moment a few minutes later when Terriers defender Cody Thompson was hit from behind by Blues Captain Geordie Keane. Keane received a five-minute major and was ejected from the game, Thompson did not return.

"Their guy saw numbers and kept going, and he didn't need to," explains Harland. "Cody seems like he's going to be okay. I think our guys got a little more amped up after that, and when there's a hockey play like that things can start to escalate."

After a few Terrier penalties, they finally managed to get some time with the extra attacker for the major penalty, and they scored twice in the remaining two minutes. Josh Martin lit the lamp on a broken play when he found a loose puck in front and slid it home. Ty Barnstable scored the second. He was the recipient of a great passing play by Martin and defenceman Mackenzie Dwyer and buried one all alone at the side of the net. The Dogs had one more opportunity on the powerplay to close out the second but couldn't add to their 3-1 lead.

Portage continued to dominate in the third, even though they spent a good amount of the period shorthanded. The game got rough toward the end as the Blues took exception to a hit and went at Defenceman Layne Toder. After a short scrum, both lines were ejected and the Blues were left with three subs at the end of everything, the Terriers had six on the bench to finish the game. Portage scored three goals in the final six minutes. Brendan Kochanski scored his first two as a Terrier.

"Feeling really relieved right now," admits Kochanski. "I feel like the past twenty games I've been getting shots and shots, and nothing is going in. So I've had the mentality to shoot absolutely everything. I've been doing it in practice and it worked out here."

Jeremy Leipsic scored the other to add to his league-leading total. Brock Aiken picked up the win in net for Portage. He stopped 18 of 19 shots faced.

Harland says things got a little out of hand after the Toder hit, but the refs handled it okay. "Did they miss a few calls along the way? Yeah, it all could've been prevented maybe but that's hockey. It was good it ended the way it did with nobody doing too many things they shouldn't have."

The Terriers next challenge is the Steinbach Pistons Friday night. That game can be heard on CFRY and at Portage Online dot com.