Rowan Calvert scored the game-winner in the shootout and Ethan Fechter turned aside 31 shots as the Warriors took a 2-1 victory over the Saskatoon Contacts in Saskatoon.
It was a bit of redemption for the local squad after they dropped a 5-1 decision in their previous meeting with the Contacts back on Oct. 17.
“They have a pretty good team up there, and the first game we played against them we took a lot of penalties and it ended up costing us,” said Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber. “Then last night, I thought we played very well. We played a really good road game, I felt we did a really good job in our own zone and our ‘D’ played really well. Hopefully we can keep this going here and keep playing with this kind of consistency, keep the ball rolling and take some baby steps forward here.”
The contest quickly evolved into a goaltending duel, with Fechter and Saskatoon’s Chase Wutzke going toe-to-toe with big saves throughout the game.
The Warriors were the first to break through when Connor Miller scored a power-play marker with 7:41 gone in the second period, but Spencer Chestolowski got that one back for the Contacts just over two minutes later.
There the score remained until the shootout, where Calvert was the only player to score and Fechter turned aside all five shooters he faced.
“Last night, we had a lot of opportunities, but it was a game where both goalies played really well,” Weisgerber said. “Fechter played really well for us and their goalie has a great game as well. We had a lot of Grade A chances where he made some saves and that’s how it goes. Sometimes during the season you run into some hot goalies and that’s just the way it is, but we were happy with the road win for sure.”
The Warriors improved to 6-2-0-0 in the young season and are looking forward to a busier schedule after a nine-day break between games against the Contacts.
“It’s a lot busier from here on out until Christmas, which is good,” Weisgerber said. “You get a couple practices between games and then you get at ‘er, so it’ll be a much better schedule for the players and hopefully we can keep rolling with the way we’ve been playing here.”
The Warriors are back in action this weekend when they host the Battlefords Stars (2-7-0-1). Game times are 7 p.m. on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday at Mosaic Place.
