Bad bounces and tough breaks have been the order of the day more often than not for the local squad, and their record reflects it.
But on Sunday night, the hockey gods decided it was time to even things up a bit.
The Warriors used some puck luck and relentless pressure to build a 3-0 lead and go on to a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes at Mosaic Place.
Of course, with the way things have gone for the team this season, even with that solid start it wasn’t going to be easy. The Warriors found the ice heavily tilted in the Hurricanes favour much of the third, but goaltender Carl Tetachuk made a handful of huge saves against his former team to keep them in the hunt.
“We had a good start to the game, but in the second and third Lethbridge came out and pressured pretty hard,” Tetachuk said. “There were a couple of tough bounces there on their goals, but we were able to finish it off and it’s a nice win.”
The 20-year-old Lethbridge product and three-year former Hurricane ended up with a 37-save performance and was at his best when the opposition was throwing the most pressure at the Warriors net.
“I wanted to get that win pretty bad so I did everything I could to keep our team in the game,” Tetachuk said.
Warriors rookie Thomas Tien got his team on the board with a shorthanded marker 2:01 into the contest, and it was a product of good old-fashioned hard work. Tien outraced a pair of defenders for the loose puck and got a shot off on Hurricanes goaltender Bryan Thomson, who made the initial save but had the rebound bounce off a defender and into the net.
The goal was the first of Tien's WHL career, and he would later be named the team's Warrior of the Game after shrugging off a blocked shot that went off his helmet.
Moose Jaw captain Daemon Hunt made it 2-0 three minutes later when he took a nifty feed from behind the net from Ryder Korczak and lifted a shot from the top of the crease top corner.
The early onslaught continued with 5:26 to play in the period, as no sooner did a Warriors penalty kill expire than a Majid Kaddourra shot from the point ricocheted off a pair of Hurricanes defenders right to Eric Alarie, who had an easy shot from the side of the net to put Moose Jaw ahead three.
It was as good a start as the Warriors have seen this season, and one that head coach Mark O’Leary was naturally happy to see.
“I think we take pride in our starts,” he said. “Jumping off of face-offs, getting pucks north and having something positive in your first shift is important to us. I think the guys have bought into that and it’s led to us having some good starts.”
Lethbridge got back into the game late in second period, first when Ty Nash scored with 3:42 remaining in the period and 59 seconds later, Jett Jones pulled the Hurricanes back within one.
From that point on, it was a matter of holding on for dear life as Lethbridge continued to push.
“Before the goals even went in you could feel it coming, the ice was tilted in their direction,” O’Leary said. “Luckily we stopped the bleeding and Tetachuk certainly had a big part in that. We leaned on him heavily, but in the middle of the game and closer to the end we were the second-best team for sure.”
Still, a win is a win. The Warriors improved to 7-8-0-1 to take sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference and third in the East Division. Lethbridge fell to 6-10-0-0 and sit in 10th in the conference.
“We’re learning on the fly here how to play and how to win tight games,” O’Leary said. “You look at the Winnipeg game where we let a 4-1 lead slip away and didn’t even get a point, then last night we let one slip away and managed to get a point, then tonight we managed to get the win. That’s growth, but there are some touch and go moments….We’ve had some losses this year in games we’ve deserved to win and came away with nothing, so we’re certainly not going to apologize tonight.”.
Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Bryan Thomson had 25 saves for the Hurricanes.
The Warriors are back in action Friday when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings. Next home action is Saturday when Moose Jaw hosts the Regina Pats. Game time is 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
