The Moose Jaw Warriors just keep finding ways to win against the top teams in the Western Hockey League.
The Portland Winterhawks were the latest victim of the local squad’s ability to rise to the occasion, as Eric Alarie scored a pair of goals -- including the game-winner with 1:54 remaining -- as the Warriors took a 4-2 victory over the Western Conference’s second-best team.
In fact, with a Portland win and Seattle loss on Friday night, the Winterhawks could have taken over first place in the Conference.
Instead, it was Moose Jaw who came through on the scoreboard, improving to 25-14-0-2 on the campaign and moving within three points of Saskatoon for third place in the Eastern Conference, though the Blades have four games in hand.
“That’s junior hockey and that’s the art of coaching, managing the ups and downs during the season,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary. “At the end of the day, the most exciting thing about this group is how they respond to tough times, whether it’s in a game or after a tough game, and come playoff time that resiliency becomes really important.”
Neither team had many chances in the first 10 minutes of the game -- other than a Warriors three-on-one that didn’t pan out -- but Portland made the most of an opportunity they did get,
Aidan Litke found James Stefan breaking into the Warriors zone, and Stefan would wire home a shot from the slot to give the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead 8:07 into the game,
The Warriors got that one back with 5:24 remaining in the period, and it was a milestone marker. Defenceman Cosmo Wilson broke in from the point to pick up a rebound off a Robert Baco shot in close, and would put a shot home for the first goal of his WHL career.
The second period was a back-and-forth battle, with both teams getting scoring chances but falling victim to great saves by Warriors netminder Connor Ungar and Portland goaltender Jan Spunar or just missing finishing opportunities.
Seeing things play out in that tight-checking of a fashion wasn’t a surprise to O’Leary, and his troops were ready for what they knew was coming.
“Portland moves the puck up ice really well, and it was important for us to make sure we were climbing above and not giving up odd man rushes,” said O’Leary, who saw his charges do exactly that most of the game. “We knew we were going to have to spend some time in the defensive zone because they have a lot of skill, and the stick details become really important, making sure we have layers inside.
“You saw at the other end, it’s real hard for us to get opportunities inside because they do the same. That’s what a playoff-feel type game is going to have, it’ll build us one step closer to the playoffs where it’s tight checking and hard to score, and we found a way.”
Warriors received their first power play with just over two minutes to play, and that would lead to Alarie’s first goal. A shot from the point by Martin Rysavy rebounded right to Alarie at the side of the net, and he’d put the puck into the yawning cage to make it a 2-1 Warriors lead through two.
Rysavy was playing his first game since returning to the team from the World Junior Hockey Championship, where he won a silver medal with Team Czechia. The Warriors had a special presentation before the game to honour Rysavy and Robert Baco, who also suited up for Slovakia at the tournament.
The Winterhawks took advantage of a power play to tie the game 6:32 into the third period, with a shot from Robbie Fromm-Delormre deflecting off Jack O’Brien in front and dropping into the Warriors' goal.
Another Warriors penalty four minutes later gave Portland a chance to generate a ton of chances to try and take the lead, but Ungar made a host of steady saves to keep the contest tied.
That all set the stage for Alarie with 1:54 remaining, as after some solid work moving the puck in the zone by Denton Mateychuk, the Warriors' 19-year-old found time and space in the right face-off circle and put a shot home to give Moose Jaw a 3-2 lead.
Seeing Alarie starting to get on a bit of a roll is another positive sign for the local crew.
“It’s nice to see Alarie score goals,” O’Leary said. “He had a tough luck first half with a lot of chances that normally he cashes in on that just weren’t finding the back of the net. That’s frustrating, so I think the Christmas break was a good refresh for him and I really like his game here in the second half. He’s skating and holding onto pucks a little bit longer and that’s building confidence, he’s scored some big goals for us.”
Ryder Korczak added an empty-netter with a minute remaining, and the Warriors had their win in the bag.
Ungar had yet another stellar outing and finished with 42 saves, Spunar had 28 stops for Portland.
The Warriors are back in action on Saturday night when they travel to Brandon. Their next home game is Tuesday when they host the Saskatoon Blades.
