Warriors show proof of life

Mike Stothers called it “a tough decision.” It was much more than that.

With his team facing a sweep in the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference final Wednesday, the Moose Jaw Warriors coach went away from 19-year-old starting goaltender Luke Siemens in favour of Justin Paulic. Who? Paulic, 16, had all of one game on his resume in the WHL. The Thompson, Man. product joined the team in March from bantam and suited up in a March 17 win over the Prince Albert Raiders. The third-stringer had watched the playoff run from the stands. All of that changed Wednesday.

Paulic stunned the Edmonton Oil Kings with a 28-save effort in Moose Jaw’s seasonsaving 5-1 win before 4,622 fans at Mosaic Place. The result snapped Edmonton’s 22-game win streak. Game 5 goes Friday night at Rexall Place

“It’s a tough decision,” Stothers said. “But you’ve got to go with what you feel is going to give your team the best chance to win. He responded very well . . .”

Of getting the call to start, Paulic said, “It was a little different because I had to remember what I do for games and everything. But it was just pretty much stuck in my head, it’s routine.

“I was nervous, but the whole day I was just telling myself to stay focused and keep my head in the game.”

The Warriors helped their goalie out. Brayden Point opened the scoring at 5:59 of the first, giving Moose Jaw its first lead of the series. Cam Braes struck at 14:47 and Kenton Miller scored successive goals to blow the game open by 6:24 of the second.

Tyler Maxwell scored for Edmonton midway through the second. With the Edmonton net empty early, James Henry officially put the game on ice with his sixth playoff marker at 17:35 of the third.

“The kid made some great saves there in the third period,” Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal said of Paulic.