Firkus Circus. Meet Yager Bomb.
By @moosejawwarriors_history (Instagram) @MJWarriorsFun (Twitter)
Classic Trans Canada Clash photo of Brayden Yager and Connor Bedard - photo credit Twitter
Your Moose Jaw Warriors had a snow day.
The great snowstorm of 2022 shut down the highway on Sunday afternoon and forced the Warriors and Pats to reschedule the second game of their home-and-away series. The rescheduling ended with a game, at the Brandt Centre, on Wednesday Oct 26th.
Oh yeah! Just in case anybody forgot. The Warriors decimated the Pats in the first game.
Thankfully all the players and fans stayed safe, Highway 1 was operational again and the rivalry resumed.
Jagger Firkus broke the silence rather early, taking advantage of a Cole Dubinsky penalty, scoring his fourth goal of the season, at 7:21 in the first period. Firkus’ goal was made possible by a friendly little dish from the “Action Man” Atley Calvert.
Jagger Firkus scored the first of two first period Power Play goals - photo credit Twitter
Shortly after that, on a second Power Play, the Firkus Circus connected with the Yager Bomb to put the Warriors up by 2. The goal was Yager’s fifth.
A little after halfway through the second period, the Warriors were booked for Too Many Men on the Ice. Regina capitalized, scoring yet another Power Play goal, and squashing Warriors goalie Connor Ungar’s hopes of a shutout. The goal was scored by LW Alexander Suzdalev. It was a rocket of of one-timer that Ungar had little chance of stopping. Suzdalev is a product of the Washington Capitals and the goal was his sixth of the season.
The Pats’ Alexander Suzdalev scored his sixth of the season- photo credit Twitter
Six minutes into Period 3, the Warriors newest addition, Riley Ginnell, introduced himself to the Warriors fan base by dropping the gloves with Brayden Barnett.
Big defenceman Cole Jordan gave everyone a scare when he got called for tripping in the 13th minute but the Warriors tenacious defence kept Regina from scoring in what was their fifth Power Play of the night.
Suzdalev nearly scored a second time, which would have levelled things out, with four minutes remaining in the game but Connor Ungar made a tremendous save on the his one-timer.
Then, with just over a minute to play, Regina took the ultimate gamble and pulled their goalie. But it wasn’t enough as Moose Jaw clung on to the lead. The final score was 2-1.
Firkus, Suzdalev and Yager were the game’s three stars.
The Warriors have now won three of four against the Pats and are on a three game winning streak.
Brayden Yager leads the team with five goals - photo credit Twitter
The Tribe will be busy this weekend with a pair of home games against against visiting American teams. They are hosting the Everett Silvertips on Friday and the Tri-City Americans on Saturday.
Here is an updated list of the Warriors top Goal Scorers:
Brayden Yager & Atley Calvert 5
Jagger Firkus 4
Ben Riche & Eric Alarie 3
Warriors Notes:
Brayden Yager, Ben Riche and Jackson Unger all made the NHL Central Scoutings Players to Watch List. All three are expected to get drafted in the NHL Entry Draft next summer.
Coming into the game Denton Mateychuk and Thomas Tien were game time decisions. Tien did play. Mateychuk did not.