If this is what the Moose Jaw Warriors are going to look like for the rest of the Western Hockey League season, fans are going to be in for a treat.
The Warriors put together one of their most complete performances of the campaign on Wednesday night against the Victoria Royals, holding their opposition to only 15 shots and rolling to a 5-0 victory at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The Warriors improved to 23-15-0-2 with the win and are once again back within four points of the Medicine Hat Tigers for second place in the Eastern Conference.
The contest marked the first game back for Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk and forward Brayden Yager after their appearance with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, and their return made a team that already had been playing well look exceptional indeed.
Goaltender Jackson Unger was the main beneficiary of the outing, as he faced more shots in a single shift many nights this season than he faced in any period -- three in the first, five in the second and seven in the third.
“For sure, that was probably our most dominant game of the year and I think they had only four real shots,” said Unger, who was battling a bit a cold heading into the game but still looked as sharp as he needed to be. “In a game like that you’re just playing for yourself and let the boys take care of the rest and they just did a great job in front of me tonight.”
The shutout was Unger’s second of the season and third of his career and came on the lowest number of shots he’s faced this season. Unger entered the contest having faced the most shots in the WHL at 1,166, including a handful of 50-shot games that put the 18-year-old netminder to the true test.
“I think I’m just so used to facing so many shots that I kind of like seeing more, honestly, but I’ll take games like tonight, too,” Unger said of having a far less busy night. “It’s harder to keep in mentally, but you just have to go the whole game and stay focussed as you can and you’ll get good results.”
The first period was largely uneventful, in no small part due to the stellar defensive effort by the home team.
The Warriors held Victoria to the three shots in the despite giving up a pair of power plays, allowing a single shot on each man advantage.
The Warriors had a handful of chances at the other end of the ice as things progressed and made one of them count late. Pavel McKenzie picked up a turnover at the blueline and simply put a shot on net facing three defenders, with that attempt ringing off the post and in for a 1-0 lead with 1:44 to play in the frame.
A power play early in the second period led to the Warriors’ second goal, with Kalem Parker sending a pass to the front of the net for Atley Calvert that went off a defender at the top of the crease and in.
Rilen Kovacevic then made it a 3-0 game at the 11:18 mark, going in on a breakaway and absorbing a slash before tucking the puck under Jayden Kraus’ outstretched pad and in.
The Warriors took back-to-back penalties late in the period, but it mattered little to the Royals shot total as they had only one or two scoring chances and were largely neutralized.
All told, it wouldn’t be until the three-minute mark of the third period that Victoria crossed double digits in shots.
Mateychuk had a few scoring opportunities as the game progressed, and he’d finally get on the board with 6:09 gone in the third, putting a shot from the high slot top corner glove side for the 4-0 edge.
The Warriors then picked up their second power play goal with 5:54 to play, as Yager finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Firkus and Mateychuk for Moose Jaw’s fifth marker of the night. The goal came seconds after Lynden Lakovic had almost the exact same look as Yager, but had the puck skip off his stick at the last second.
That would mark the end of the offence on the night, and the Warriors had their 5-0 win.
Moose Jaw had 40 shots on Kraus.
The Warriors’ attention now turns to one of the most anticipated games of the season on Saturday night, as forward Matthew Savoie will make his Moose Jaw debut against the Vancouver Giants. The Warriors will also honour their newest Warriors and Legends Hall of Fame inductees in Troy Brouwer and Deryk Engelland, who will enshrined on Friday night.
