Warriors Pummel Pats

By @MJWarriorsFun (Twitter) @moosejawwarriors_history (Instagram)

Back at the Hangar with that painfully small decal

I’ve you’ve been keeping track you probably noticed that the inconsistent Moose Jaw Warriors have been pretty bad in their last couple of games.

They have suffered embarrassing back-to-back defeats to teams with far less impressive records than theirs.

On Friday night they were at the Hangar playing host to the Regina Pats and looking to steer that ship back in the right direction.

Of course, The Pats scoring sensation, Conor Bedard, was playing in the World Juniors and was not present for the Warriors faithful to jeer at.

Moose Jaw took advantage of his absence and jumped out to an early lead when Ethan Hughes, a 5’6” 16 year old, scored his first ever WHL goal in the fourth minute, jamming a loose puck past the Pats goalie.

Ethan Hughes scored his first goal as a Warrior - Via Twitter

In the 13th minute Harper Lolacher did something very similar, taking a rebound and finishing off a shot by Big Lucas Brenton.

Late in the period Alexander Suzdalev scored his 19th goal for the Pats, bringing Regina to within just one goal.

While everybody was talking about Connor Bedard, Alexander Suzdalev has quietly racked up 20 goals for the Pats - Twitter

The Warriors took advantage of a Riley Ginnell tripping minor early in Period Two (remember Riley Ginnell? He played 14 games with the Warriors earlier this season). Jagger Firkus scored his 19th of the campaign; Brayden Yager and Ryder Korczak assisted on the play.

In the 8th minute Eric Alarie used his skate to wrangle a re-directed Ben Riche offering and sneak it into the net. The goal was Alarie 6th.

Suzdalev scored a second one for the Pats, at 14:42. His 20th of the season. Suzdalev’s 43 points put him ahead of every single Moose Jaw Warrior. He’s got the fifth most goals in the WHL.

All Suzdalev’s offensive prowess would go to waste though as the Warriors opened the flood gates in the third period. Korczak scored in the 9th minute then Lolacher netted his second of the game at 12:13. Lolacher has been aflame recently, scoring four goals in his last four games. One of those goals triggered the Teddy Bear Toss.

Harper Lolacher has scored 4 goals in his last 4 games - via Twitter

Lolacher, Riche, Yager and Korczak all had multi-point games and Connor Ungar made 25 saves.

The final score was 6-2 for the Warriors.

Lolacher was awarded the First Star of the Game, Hughes and Korczak were second and third.

The Warriors will be back at the Hangar on Wednesday when they take on the current top team in the league, the Winnipeg Ice.

WHL Top Goal Scorers

  1. Connor Bedard Regina 27

  2. Kai Uchacz Red Deer 22

  3. Tanner Howe Regina 21

  4. Chase Wheatcroft Prince George 21

  5. Andrew Cristall Kelowna 20

  6. Austin Roest Everett 20

  7. Alexander Suzdalev Regina 20

  8. Caedan Bankier Kamloops 20

  9. Koehn Zimmer Prince George 19

  10. Jagger Firkus Moose Jaw 19

Warriors Notes:

F Martin Rysavy did not play as he was representing the Czech Republic at the World Juniors.

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