But in the end, a win is a win, and the Warriors were more than happy to skate away with a 4-3 shootout victory at Mosaic Place.
Denton Mateychuk and Ryder Korczak scored in the shootout and Carl Tetachuk stopped two of the three shooters he faced to secure the victory.
“It was back and forth all night and it was good we came out on the right side of it for once this time, and we’re just happy with the win,” said Warriors forward Atley Calvert, who scored the Warriors’ third goal in the second period.
Moose Jaw carried a 3-1 lead into the final frame and looked to have things in control after a solid showing throughout the previous 20 minutes. But as has happened far too many times already this season, the opposition pushed back and by the time things were settled, the contest was bound for overtime.
“We got into some penalty trouble and any time you’re in the box they’re going to have more opportunities to score,” Calvert said. “So we just have to stay out of the box, especially in a game like this when it’s close.”
The Warriors had a golden opportunity to get on the board first with a two-man advantage for 1:41 early in the opening frame but wouldn’t be able to make anything of it -- despite Daemon Hunt having a wide-open cage after a slick passing play as the first penalty ran down.
Brandon opened scoring 37 seconds into the second period on a goal from Marcus Kalionkeieli, but the Warriors responded on the power play 1:12 later when Eric Alarie found a loose puck at the side of the crease and put a quick shot home.
The Warriors looked like they were going to take a serious blow 7:06 into the period when Hunt was driven into the end boards while racing for a puck with Ridly Greig. The Wheat Kings standout was given a five-minute major for interference on the play, and the Warriors’ captain left the ice under his own power favouring his left leg. He’d return for the third period.
Moose Jaw made Brandon pay for the transgression, as Logan Doust scored on the major to put the Warriors ahead 2-1 and Calvert extended the lead to two goals just as the penalty expired.
The aforementioned penalty trouble allowed the Wheat Kings to rally in the third. Riley Ginnell scored on a partial breakaway with 9:35 gone in the frame as Brandon pressed and a penalty with just over five minutes to play proved especially costly, as Nate Danielson scored on a scramble in the crease to tie the contest 3-3.
The Warriors settled down from there, though, and had a handful of chances late before the game ran down.
“It was important for us to mentally rest after those two goals and we were able to do it, so we were able to hang on through overtime and the shootout and get the two points,” Calvert said.
Carl Tetachuk turned aside 35 shots in taking the win, while the Warriors fired 39 at Brandon’s Ethan Kruger.
The Warriors capped the contest 2-for-4 on the power play, Brandon 1-for-3.
The game marked the fourth straight game with at least a point for the Warriors, and Moose Jaw improved to .500 for the first time since Oct. 16 to sit at 10-10-1-1, good enough for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, three points up on Brandon and three points back of Saskatoon.
The Warriors are back in action Thursday in Calgary when they kick off a three-games-in-three nights swing through the Central Division.
