The Moose Jaw Warriors hadn't had a lot of luck in their most recent Western Hockey League contests, and it looked like things weren't going change much that way in the early going of Saturday night's Hall of Fame Game against the Regina Pats.
Put it this way: when's the last time you saw a delayed penalty called, the goaltender go to the bench and a pass back to the defenceman going all the way down the ice into their own net? That happened to the Tribe five minutes into the game, with Regina's Austin Pratt getting credit for the easiest goal he'll ever score.
The thing about bad luck, though, is when you've had enough of it, things will turn around. And the Warriors had that happen and then some, taking over the contest in the second period and going on to a 6-3 win at Mosaic Place.
“It's huge,” Warriors foward Brayden Tracey said of the commanding victory. “We knew we couldn't take this team lightly coming in, they're a hard working team and we can't show them that we're taking them lightly, so we came out hard and I thought we got the job done pretty well tonight.”
Tracey finished the game with a goal and two assists, including one of the more impressive passes of the season to set up Tristin Langan for the Warriors' fifth goal – going in on a two-on-one, Tracey kept his head up and partially faked a shot before directing the pass over to Langan as he streaked down the right wing. Both Pats goaltender Max Paddock and his defenceman bit hard on the fake and Langan had the open net to shoot at.
“I knew I was going to him right when I got the puck at the far blueline,” Tracey explained. “I saw he was going down his one-timer side, so I knew what I had to do to get that goalie down, get the 'D's stick over. But the pass doesn't look as good if he doesn't do what he did, so it was great to see him finishing it off, too.”
Langan finished the game with a goal and an assist, while linemate Justin Almeida picked up a pair of helpers. That was crucial for the trio, because as of last night, they became the highest scoring line not only in the WHL but in the Canadian Hockey League.
Given how well the trio played Saturday, that wasn't much of a surprise to Warriors head coach Tim Hunter.
“I thought Tracey was dominant along the boards with the puck, he had a hard time carrying a couple of guys around on his back and couldn't shake their players,” he said. “But he made some nice plays and I thought that whole line played a really good game tonight.”
Tracey himself was almost in disbelief upon hearing the news.
“It's surreal,” he said. “They're two good players, Langan is right up there in points and so is Meids. We have a lot of fun, we joke around a lot on the bench so it's not always serious, and on the ice we're able to get the job done.”
The contest saw an additional positive on the shot clock – the Warriors had been surrendering an inordinate amount of scoring attempts in recent games, seemingly floating around the 40 shots mark throughout their massive road run. Saturday was far better, as they outshot the Pats 31-24.
As it turns out, being back home helped make all the difference.
“Our focus every night is to eliminate scoring opportunities and easy shots on the net,” Hunter said. “When you're on the road and teams are coming at you with last change, that's where a lot of those came from. We were able to buckle down a little bit more, especially after we were banged up a bit. We have (Tate) Popple back now and three good solid lines that can compete and play, and we'll work on a fourth one and get those guys developed as well.”
Popple finished the game with a pair of goals, while Kjell Kjemhus opened scoring 29 seconds into the game with a goal both teams are still trying to figure out how it found it's way home. Jett Woo picked up the Warriors' second goal on the power play with just over a minute remaining in the first.
The Warriors led 2-1 through one 5-3 through two.
Brodan Salmond was the winning goaltender, making 21 saves including a spectacular third period stop after he got tangled up behind the net but recovered just in time to make a diving save on a Pats attacker.
The Tribe improved to 31-15-6-2 on the season and find themselves firmly ensconced in third place in the wild card standings, 12 points back of the second place Saskatoon Blades and seven up on the Red Deer Rebels.
Next action for the Warriors is Monday when they travel to Prince Albert to face the WHL-leading Raiders.
Overtime... the Hall of Fame game held special meaning for the team as Warriors and Legends inductees Brian Sutherby and Shawn Limpright were honoured with video packages and a jersey presentation at centre ice... the weekend also tied into Family Day, as many of the players parents were also in attendance and were each introduced during the pre-game ceremony.
