Facing the Saskatoon Contacts in Game 2 of their best-of-five Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series, the Warriors gave up a pair of goals in the first three minutes and looked like a team that was in for one of those nights.
Turns out, they weren’t the ones in trouble.
By the time 3:29 remained in the period, the Warriors had tied the game 2-2.
By the end of the second it was 6-2 Warriors.
And the local squad would tack on two more in the third for an 8-3 victory at Mosaic Place, taking a 2-0 lead in the series and giving themselves a chance to advance to the league final with a win on Thursday in Saskatoon.
“Again, it’s just our starts, they’re not ideal,” said Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber. “And after the first we had a good talk in there and the boys answered the bell and played very well. We came in waves, getting pucks in behind, we were battling and playing like we can, so that’s nice to see.”
Riley Heidt opened scoring for Saskatoon 1:21 into the game and Riley Girod would make it 2-0 only 1:22 later. By the time the game was 10 minutes old the Warriors were being outshot 11-2 and looked as if they’d have little to offer on the evening.
But it was right around that exact time that something clicked for the Tribe.
The Warriors forecheck started getting to work, creating offensive zone turnovers. That led to their first goal at 7:31 from Kyle Forster. Atley Calvert would make it 2-2 with a power play goal three minutes later and just like that, they were right back in it.
Jacob Visentini got one back for Saskatoon before the period was out, but that would be the last bit of good news for the visitors.
The rest of the game belonged to Moose Jaw, as Connor McGrath would scored a hat trick in the second period to go along with a single goal from Ben Wourms-Rowe, creating their commanding lead after 40 minutes.
“We came out slow to start, but once we started getting pucks behind the D and forcing them to make plays, we kind of took over,” McGrath said. “Then we were laying the body and didn’t shy away from the physical stuff and just took care of the game.”
The Warriors regular-season scoring leader was under no illusions when it came to just how important the win was in the greater scheme of things.
“That’s really important for us, because now we’re up 2-0 and need one more win to get to the finals,” he said. “For us, that’s huge.”
Calvert and Davis Fry would add goals in the third to close out scoring. Calvert would finish with three points, while Caelan Fitzpatrick had three helpers, Parker Jasper and Max Wanner two assists each.
Chase Coward got the start in goal and stopped 14 shots in the first before giving way to Dylan Ernst, who would stop 19 shots the rest of the way. The Warriors fired 45 shots at Contacts starter Ethan Chadwich and second-period replacement Chase Hamm.
Game 3 of the series is set for Thursday in Saskatoon, with Game 4 back in Moose Jaw on Sunday at 6 p.m. if necessary.
