Weekend wins have Warriors on verge of clinching first
Regular season wins don’t come much bigger than what the Moose Jaw Warriors put together against the Swift Current Broncos this past weekend.
In a game that was expected to all but decide first place overall in the Western Hockey League, the Warriors stormed out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and led 3-0 through two before taking a 4-2 victory in front of a packed Mosaic Place on Saturday night.
The win, combined with a victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Sunday afternoon and loss to the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday meant the Tribe had a 51-15-1-2 record heading into their Mar. 14 matchup with the Raiders, good enough for a five point lead on the Broncos with three games to play in the regular season. One more point and the Warriors win the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as Western Hockey League regular season champions.
“That was definitely one of the bigger games of the year for us, they have a really good team and they’re right on our heels,” said Warriors forward and Moose Jaw minor hockey product Branden Klatt, who had two goals against the Broncos. “So it was good to get a little bit of distance and an extra step on them.”
Less than 24 hours after their emotional and hard-fought win over Swift Current, the Warriors were back on the ice at home to take on the Brandon Wheat Kings in an afternoon contest.
Vince Loschiavo scored twice while Jayden Halbgewachs, Ryan Peckford and Tanner Jeannot all had single markers in a back-and-forth contest.
The Wheat Kings twice tied the game 2-2 and 3-3 in the third period, only to see the Tribe respond minutes later and retake the lead.
“It’s the third game of a three-in-three and a four o’clock game, so it was tough on them and tough on us,” said Warriors coach Tim Hunter. “If you’re a fan you’re not too pleased with the quality out there. But we were resilient and we found a way and bounced back after they tied it both times.”
Brody Willms made 18 saves in earning the win.
More than 4,500 fans packed Mosaic Place for the battle with Swift Current, and they were treated to one of the Tribe’s best peformances of the season.
In addition to Klatt’s markers, the Warriors had goals from Halbgewachs and Justin Almeida as they secured the all-important victory.
The key moment of the contest came when Barrett Sheen was assessed a five-minute major in the third period for a charge on the Broncos’ Tyler Steenbergen. Less than a minute into that penalty kill, Brett Howden was assessed a minor for tripping, giving Swift Current a lengthy two man advantage.
The Warriors successfully killed off both penalties while generating a handful of scoring chances of their own in the process.
Willms turned in an outstanding performance and 21 saves in the process.
The Raiders scored four times in the second period and held off the Warriors the rest of the way to pick up the win in Prince Albert.
Halbgewachs kicked off the weekend with two goals and an assist. By Sunday evening, he had 68 goals on the year, leaving him only two behind Blair Atcheynum for the single season team record. He also now has 125 points, moving one ahead of injured Broncos forward Glenn Gawdin for the league lead.
Klatt and Almeida had the Warriors’ other markers; Adam Evanoff stopped 17 shots in the loss.