The Moose Jaw Warriors are off to the start they were hoping for in the Hockey Sask U15 A Tier II playoffs.
The Warriors scored five goals in the third period and went on to a 6-1 win in the first game of the modified best-of-three series, with Game 2 set for Saturday at 7:45 p.m. at the Bert Hunt.
Despite how things played out, the game was exceptionally close for two periods.
After Carson Fitzgerald gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead only a couple minutes into the game, Rhett Benaschak would tie things up before the frame was out, scoring his first of the contest at the 9:04 mark.
There things remained until the midway point of the third period when the Warriors’ power play went to work.
Takeo Smith scored with the man advantage at the 8:29 mark to give Moose Jaw their first lead, and just under two minutes later, Noah Delaurier scored a power play marker to make it a 3-1 game.
Only 58 seconds after Delaurier’s goal, Benaschak picked up his second of the game, and the Warriors essentially had things in hand.
Avery Nielsen and Memphis Wilderman scored in the final minute and Moose Jaw had their five-goal win.
Bryson Galbraith picked up the victory in goal, Brooks Tremblay took the loss.
The Warriors can finish things off on Saturday night, but if Regina were to win, a series of 10-minute mini-games would be played until a winner is declared -- hence the modified best-of-three.
The winner of the series advances to take on the champion of Saskatoon in the provincial final, with the dates and times of that series to be determined.
