Warriors Win Goaltender’s Duel
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If your Moose Jaw Warriors are planning on making a deep playoff run this year they’re most likely going to have to go through the Saskatoon Blades to do it.
The Blades are a tough division rival that’s currently beating them in the standings.
That’s why games like Tuesday nights at the Hangar are so important right now.
They are a marker by which contenders can gauge their abilities.
The Blades were in town. Trevor Wong and Egor Sidorov - photo credit Saskatoon Blades Twitter
The two teams had met twice previously, splitting the games despite Saskatoon badly outshooting and out-pressuring the Warriors in both matches.
Thankfully, for the good guys, Eric Alarie has been red hot as of late and he broke the deadlock in the seventh minute, shoveling home a beautiful pass from Ryder Korczak to give his team the early jump.
That’s the third straight game Alarie has scored in and his 14th goal of the season.
Eric Alarie has been sensational lately - photo credit twitter
The remainder of the frame showed the Warriors displaying great composure, moving the puck well, avoiding costly mistakes and staying out of the penalty box, something they’ve struggled with at times this year.
Josh Hoekstra put the tribe up by a pair halfway into the second period, snapping a wrister past Austin Elliot and scoring his sixth of the season.
Josh Hoekstra scored his 6th - photo credit Twitter
But Saskatoon battled back, taking advantage of a Lucas Brenton tripping penalty, Egor Sidorov scored his 23rd of the season. The goal came largely as a result of a botched clearing attempt by Robert Baco.
Sidorov made it close - photo credit twitter
The Warriors finished the period short-handed, the penalty troubles were beginning to rear their ugly heads but aside from that, the first two periods had been a really great and disciplined performance from the team.
Rather than settle in a play defensively though, the Warriors kept trying to push the offense, beating the Blades in 50/50 battles and peppering Elliot with shots.
In the 11th minute Marek Howell got booked for Cross Checking and an air of dread encapsulated the Hangar, but before the Blades could even really settle into their Power Play Sidorov got called for Tripping and all was even-handed again.
At one point the teams were playing 3-on-3 hockey.
Brayden Yager added an empty-netter in the final minute, receiving an assist from Korczak, to seal the deal.
The Warriors did it. 3-1.
They played three periods of strong, moderately disciplined hockey against a divisional threat.
The win puts them just one point behind the Blades in the standings.
However, it should be noted that the Warriors have played four more games than the Blades, so the wins will need to keep coming in order to surpass them any time soon.
Connor Ungar was the game’s First Star - photo creditMoose Jaw Warriors Twitter
They’ll be in Saskatoon tomorrow night for round 2 of a home-and-away.
The tribe are in a perfect position to really change the scenery in the East Division.
A win tomorrow would go a long way.
But a win won’t come easy.