Throughout training camp, Moose Jaw Warriors second-year veteran Lynden Lakovic looked like a guy who was only a break or two away from putting up a whole lot of points.
On Sunday afternoon during the Black White Intrasquad Game, those breaks finally came.
Lakovic scored in the second period, added an empty netter and then scored the winner in the three-on-three overtime exhibition as Team Black took a 5-3 victory at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“I feel like I’ve created a lot of offence, not always scoring but setting up teammates, and today I got rewarded, so it felt good,” Lakovic told the Warriors’ Marc Smith after the contest.
“I felt like the camp got better as it went on, players started to mix with certain payers and we definitely have a good team here. The team looks great and I think we’re bound for a good season.”
The two teams went through a bit of a feeling-out process in the first period and saw sharp goaltending from White’s Jackson Unger and Black’s Dimitri Fortin before the goals started to come in the second period.
Noah Degenstein got things started at the 6:10 mark of the second, picking up a loose puck in the high slot and putting a perfect shot top corner.
Only 24 seconds later, Lakovic made it 2-0 Black, using his speed to get a step on a defender to the outside and slipping a backhand between Unger and the post short side.
There things stood until 7:34 remained in the period when Atley Calvert got Team White on the board. The overage forward forced a turnover along the right boards and went in untouched on Josh Banini, going top-shelf blocker side.
Jagger Firkus restored Black’s two-goal edge midway through the third, breaking down the left wing and rifling a shot top shelf glove side to give Black a 3-1 lead.
Lakovic then scored his empty-netter with 2:30 to play, but Ben Riche would once again make it a two-goal game when he batted home a cross-crease pass from Calvert 19 seconds later.
Landen McFadden then finished off scoring in regulation with a second empty-net goal.
The overtime exhibition featured a few good chances, but Lakovic capped things in style. The 17-year-old would pick up the puck at the blueline, work through a handful of defenders and slip a shot home five-hole.
Brayden Yager then scored the only goal of the shootout, giving Team White something to be happy about at the end of the day.
All three netminders ended up making big saves as the game progressed, but Fortin had the best of it, stopping all 21 shots he faced in the first period and a half.
The contest brought training camp 2023 to a close, and the Warriors will next be in action on Thursday night when they travel to Swift Current for their first pre-season game. The two teams will then play a neutral site exhibition game in Assiniboia on Saturday, are in Brandon on Saturday, Sept. 15 and play their lone home pre-season game on Saturday, Sept. 16 when the Wheat Kings are in town.
