Smooth Sailing
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Smooth Sailing by Olga Lavrova
In a Best-of-Seven series, in order to beat a team with home-ice advantage, you’ve got to beat them in their home rink a minimum of one time. Coming into Moose Jaw, for Game 3, on Tuesday night, your Moose Jaw Warriors had already done that. Mission complete.
They beat the league’s best Winnipeg Ice in their barn on Saturday night.
The hardest part of the task is complete.
Now all the Warriors would have to do is win all the home games and they’d be going through to the Semi-Finals.
Smooth sailing, eh?
Not really.
Moose Jaw may have won Game 2 but it didn’t come easy.
The Ice got into some early penalty trouble and fell behind. It took everything the Warriors could muster up to dispel the Ice’s final onslaught and hang on to that victory.
There’s no way Winnipeg wasn’t coming into the Hangar with hunger in their souls and vengeance in their hearts.
Both teams came out gunning though.
Period 1 was a slugfest. An offensive juggernaut. Each team scored 3 times. But Only Moose Jaw was able to maintain slugging for the entirety of the game. Winnipeg fizzled out after the first.
Zach Ostapchuk scored in the 7th minute for the bad guys, his fifth of the postseason.
Then Briley Wood scored just 11 seconds after that. Winnipeg was killing it early on.
Ottawa Senators prospect Zach Ostapchuk gave the Ice an early lead
But fear not!
A pair of Graham Sward penalties led to a pair of Warriors Power Play goals.
The first one came by way of Ryder Korczak netting a rebound on a Denton Mateychuk shot.
The second one was scored by Jagger Firkus, his 6th of the playoffs. It was a zinger of a one-time slap shot that rung off the inside of the crossbar with satisfying appeal.
The Warriors Power Play has been electric lately.
Jagger Firkus scored twice - photo credit Elite Prospects
The game was all levelled up for about 3 minutes when Lynden Lakovic lit the lamp for his second playoff goal.
For the second time this series, the Ice were forced to pull their starting goalie Daniel Hauser out of the game. The Warriors were really getting to him.
Before the frame ended Vladislav Shilo tied the game at 3. That’s how it stayed going into the first intermission.
The tribe kept on blazing in Period 2.
Eric Alarie made a mark when he scored in the second period - photo credit Twitter
Eric Alarie scored halfway into the period.
Then Lakovic notched his second of the night almost immediately after.
Lakovic was playing the greatest game of his young career.
This one came virtue of simply being where he needed to be at the right time.
The new Ice goalie, Mason Beaupit, lost track of a rebound which turned into one of the easier goals Lakovic will ever score.
Lynden Lakovic scored twice and was named First Star - photo credit Elite Prospects
For good measure, the Warriors even pumped them for another one four minutes into the third. This time it was rookie defenceman Cosmo Wilson with the marker.
The Warriors reached full flight when Martin Rysavy scored in the ninth minute.
Josh Medernach got one back for the Ice but it was a case of being too little and too late.
Ryder Korczak had three points - photo credit Elite Prospects
Then Jagger Firkus knocked the roof off the building with a beautiful, explosive goal.
He stole the puck from an Ice defender and drifted The WHL’s Highlight of the Night goal passed Mason Beaupit.
Warriors win, 8-4
The Hangar was rocking. The tribe looked better than ever.
Lynden Lakovic was the game’s First Star. Brayden Yager had 4 assists and both Firkus and Korczak had 3 point nights.
Game 5 is tonight at the Hangar.