Atley Calvert scored the game-winner with 3:45 remaining in the first overtime period to give the Warriors a 3-2 victory in Game 1 Sunday afternoon in Saskatoon.
And as has been the case so, so many times this season, the Warriors had to show a bit of third-period resiliency to give themselves a chance.
“We wanted to get home ice back and Game 1 was huge, so we kind of stuck with it and kept battling,” said Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber. “They came out hard, but we kept in it and were able to get one on the power play in overtime. So it’s good to get that one under our belt and we’re looking forward to [Monday] night.”
After a scoreless first period, the Contacts hit the scoresheet first with a power play goal 6:37 into the second, with Brayden Yager doing the honours and Riley Heidt adding an assist. The duo are among three players – the other being West Vancouver superstar Connor Bedard – who have requested exceptional player status in order to play full time in the WHL as 15-year-olds this coming season.
Saskatoon’s lead wouldn’t last the period, though, as Connor McGrath scored a power play marker of his own with 9:11 to play in the first, sending the two squads into the second intermission tied 1-1.
Matthew Hodson would give Saskatoon the lead 6:07 into the third, but true to form much of the season, the Warriors had an answer: team captain Calvert, who would score only 1:13 after Hodson to once again tie things up.
That set the stage for overtime, where with Heidt in the penalty box for a head-contact minor, Calvert would pick up his second of the game to bring things to an end.
The Warriors were 1-for-5 on the power play, the Contacts 1-for-6.
Chase Coward turned aside 41 shots in the Moose Jaw goal while the Warriors had 26 on Saskatoon’s Chase Hamm.
“Chase was really good again, we ended up getting into a little bit of penalty trouble and we ended up giving up a lot of shots there, but it was pretty even 5-on-5,” Weisgerber said. “So we have to make sure we’re more disciplined tomorrow night and we shore up our passing and getting pucks deep and things like that. All and all it was a really good game and good to get the win.”
With how close things have been throughout the season between the two teams, both squads are expecting nothing less than a war as the series continues.
“I don’t see it going any other way the rest of the way,” Weisgerber said. “Hopefully we have a good crowd helping us out and we can take care of business tomorrow night and get a stranglehold on these guys going forward.”
Game 2 of the series is set for Monday night at Mosaic Place, with puck drop at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the door and are $8 each.
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