Heading into their Western Hockey League contest against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday night, the Moose Jaw Warriors were in desperate need of a confidence boost.
With everything that has been surrounding the club in the last two weeks -- from the number of players missing due to suspension to their struggles in their most recent outings -- a positive result would go a long way to getting back on track for the last month of the season.
As it turns out, that’s exactly what happened.
The Warriors scored 17 seconds into the game, added four goals in the second period and would go on to an 8-4 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a crucial contest with playoff position implications.
Moose Jaw improved to 34-19-0-3 to move five points up on Lethbridge for fourth place in the Eastern Conference while also sitting seven back of Saskatoon for third.
The contest also marked a return of the Warriors’ offence only managing to score three goals in their previous two games. Ryder Korczak and Jagger Firkus led the way with a goal and four points each as Moose Jaw enjoyed their highest offensive output since their 9-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen at the Moose Jaw Events Centre back on Dec. 9.
“It was definitely nice, obviously they’re right behind us in the standings so it’s a big two points,” said Korczak, one of six players with multiple-point showings on the night.. “The guys came out to play, our goalie was good and we’re just happy about getting the two points tonight.”
With five players missing from the line-up due to suspension -- including the second of two for Robert Baco after a checking-from-behind major against Winnipeg last Friday -- the win was important in more ways than one.
“It’s a bit of a team builder, I guess, and we just need to figure it back out here,” Korczak said. “It’s nice to get a big win and we’ll just keep going and get ready for the weekend here… we know we’re good enough to win these kind of games, we have some skilled guys and we still have a good goalie. I think we’re still pretty confident, but there’s just a bit of a learning adjustment we have to go through.”
The Warriors had seen struggles in just about every part of their game the previous two contests, a 5-2 road loss to Prince Albert and 7-1 loss to Winnipeg at home. Much of that was cleaned up on Tuesday night, thanks to a bit more attention to the finer details.
“I would say the D-zone was a lot better, we were giving up shots from the outside instead of letting them get inside and get chances,” Korczak said. “And in our O-zone we were putting pucks on net and crashing the net instead of playing outside, so those were the two biggest things. That’ll be key in the playoffs coming up here, too.”
The Warriors wasted no time at all getting going. An offensive zone turnover sent Moose jaw in three-on-two, and Matthew Gallant would find Eric Alarie with a long pass to the side of the net for the tap-in and Moose Jaw’s first goal 17 seconds in.
Atley Calvert then made it 2-0 at the 9:45 mark, taking advantage of the game’s first power play in the process. Jagger Firkus found Calvert with time and space in front of the Lethbridge net, and he’d tuck the puck around goaltender around fellow Moose Jaw product Bryan Thomson to give the Warriors their two-goal lead.
Moose Jaw’s power play went to work again early in the second, and some slick puck movement led to Korczak set up in the slot for a perfect shot top-shelf glove side.
Martin Rysavy continued the offensive fireworks 3:24 into the period, with some solid work on the forecheck leading to a turnover behind the net and Czech standout tucking the puck in on a wrap-around.
That marked the end of the night for Thomson, who was replaced by Harrison Meneghin after allowing four goals in 14 shots in 25:06.
Firkus nearly made it 5-0 when he broke in 2-on-1 and rang a shot off the post, but the Warriors simply worked the puck around the zone and Yager would find the Seattle Kraken prospect for a one-timer and Moose Jaw’s fifth goal at 7:06.
Lethbridge managed to generate some pressure after that goal, though, and Tyson Zimmer would snap Jackson Unger’s shutout bid with 10:11 gone in the frame.
Some more solid puck movement in the Lethbridge zone led to the Warriors’ next goal, this time with Yager finding Cosmo Wilson in the high slot, and a wrist shot to the lower left corner put Moose Jaw up 6-0 with 7:51 to play in the period.
The Warriors kept things going early in the third, this time when Ben Riche batted a Josh Hoekstra rebound out of the air and into the net at 2:13 of the frame.
Blake Swetlikoff scored back-to-back goals four minutes apart for the Hurricanes as the period progressed, and Tyson Laventure made it a three-goal game with 5:41 to play, but that would be as close as they’d get.
Calvert finished off scoring with 1:31 remaining, going in on a two-on-one with Korczak, taking the return feed and putting a shot into the wide-open net for the 8-4 lead.
Unger finished the game with 26 saves to pick up the win, Meneghin had seven stops in his 34:54 of work.
The Warriors are back in action on Friday night when they host the Swift Current Broncos. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
