With everything the Moose Jaw Warriors have been through as of late, there hasn’t been a game more set up for a loss for the Western Hockey League club than Saturday night.
In addition to the four players continuing their suspensions, the Warriors were also without forwards Robert Baco and Josh Hoekstra along with defenceman Cosmo Wilson, all sidelined with illness or injuries.
That left the Warriors with only three full lines for the contest against the Prince Albert Raiders at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, along with a defensive pairing featuring a pair of rookie call-ups in Brady Ness and Sam Borschowa.
So how did it all go?
A 2-0 Warriors lead out of the first period, 3-0 lead early in the second and an eventual 5-3 victory.
All a product of good old-fashioned stick-to-it-iveness and hard work that has been a hallmark of the vast majority of the Warriors' wins this season.
“That’s all you can ask for,” said Warriors forward Tate Schofer, who drew an assist on Eric Alarie’s goal in the first period. “Not every win is going to be pretty, sometimes you have to get down and dirty in the corners and that’s exactly the kind of team we are and what we did tonight.”
Schofer admitted that the short bench made for a little extra pressure as the game wore on, but it was just a matter of digging in and not letting up.
“To be honest, It was getting a little bit tight there, but we stuck to what we do best, we stuck to the important things,” he said. “We were getting pucks deep and getting bodies to the front of the net and that’s what helped us come out with the win.”
Getting off to a good start certainly didn’t hurt.
The Warriors ran into a bit of penalty trouble midway through the first period, but would still manage to get on the board first. Jagger Firkus forced a turnover in the Warriors zone and broke in on a two-on-one with Ryder Korczak before beating Tikhon Chaika with a shot blocker side for the shorthanded goal.
Moose Jaw then extended their lead to 2-0 five minutes later, with Alarie breaking down his wing and beating Chaika with a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle.
Matthew Gallant was in the right place at the right time to score the Warriors’ third goal, pouncing on a power play rebound to the bottom of the right face-off circle and wiring a shot home. The goal was the 18-year-old defenceman’s first of the season and came with 6:26 gone in the second period.
Niall Crocker snapped Jackson Unger’s shutout bid at 8:24 of the period, but the Warriors would get that one back with a goal of their own on the man advantage with 3:28 to play in the frame.
Brayden Yager did the honours, taking a feed to the high slot from Logan Dowhaniuk and burying hs 25th goal of the campaign.
Prince Albert got one back 18 seconds into the third, and had a bit of luck on their side in the process. Landon Kosior jumped on a long rebound a put a shot on net that bounced off a pair of players before finding Keaton Sorensen for the tap in.
The Raiders then took advantage of their third straight power play to pull within one, with Landon Kosior scoring with 7:21 remaining in the frame.
Prince Albert would pull the goaltender with two minutes remaining in a quest for the tying goal, but Korczak would finish things off with 41 seconds remaining with an empty netter.
Unger finished his night with 34 saves, including 17 in the third period alone as the Raiders pressed to get back in the game. Chaika had 24 stops at the other end of the ice.
The Warriors are now 36-22-0-3 on the season and thanks to a Saskatoon win over Lethbridge Saturday have now pulled five points clear of the Hurricanes for fourth in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors have seven games remaining on their schedule, the Hurricanes eight. Regina picked up their sixth-straight win on Saturday and have climbed within five points of Lethbridge for fifth and a first-round meeting with Moose Jaw.
The Warriors -- who have had the most games played in the WHL the majority of the season -- finally get a bit of a relaxed schedule, as they only have weekend games the next two weeks. That includes their next two match-ups in Swift Current on Friday and back in Moose Jaw against the Broncos on Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
