MOOSE JAW -- The Moose Jaw Warriors and Red Deer Rebels found themselves in a goaltending battle on Saturday night, and it wouldn’t be until the third period that things were finally settled.
Red Deer scored three times in the final frame and Chase Wutzke would stop all 16 shots he faced for the shutout as the Rebels took a 3-0 victory in Western Hockey League action at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The result was almost secondary to the rest of the evening, though, as the contest also served as the Warriors’ annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night. The team wore special lavender jerseys -- the colour for cancer awareness in Canada -- with faces of those who have or are battling cancer inside the player numbers.
The jerseys were raffled off throughout the night, with fans also able to sign ‘I Fight For’ placards that will be displayed in the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
As for the result itself, the Warriors fell to 11-31-4-2 and remain in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, while Red Deer improved to 18-25-4-2 and are in nine place, 10 points out of a playoff spot.
The Warriors nearly opened scoring in the first period when Owen Berge almost knocked in the puck at the side of the net off a rebound off the end boards, but a Red Deer defender would get his stick in the way just in time to pop the puck over the net.
Ethan Hughes -- himself a survivor of childhood cancer -- also came close to snapping the goose-egg early in the second, beating Wutzke with a shot off the rush down his wing but ringing the puck off the post.
While Wutzke would end up with the shutout, Matthew Hutchison was solid in his own right at the other end of the ice, making a handful of big saves to keep the dual clean-sheet going into the third period.
Red Deer finally snapped the scoreless tie 2:41 into the final frame when Noah Milford found the puck in the right face-off circle and put a low shot past Hutchison glove side. The goal was Milford’s first of his WHL career.
Jhett Larson then made it a 2-0 game with 9:16 to play, putting a shot in close off a Warriors defenceman and having the puck deflect into the goal for the two-goal lead.
The Rebels’ Derek Thurston then finished things off with an empty net goal with 1:28 remaining.
Hutchison finished with 31 saves in taking the loss.
The Warriors are right back in action on Sunday when they travel to Saskatoon to face the Blades. Puck drop is 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
