Usually when a player shows up on a new team after a major trade, it takes a game or two to get into the swing of things with a new system, new players, new everything,
But Matthew Savoie is not your average player and the Moose Jaw Warriors are no longer your average team.
The 19-year-old Buffalo Sabres prospect looked exactly like the player everyone expected him to be in his Warriors debut on Saturday night, putting up a pair of goals and five points as the Warriors rolled to a 7-2 victory over Vancouver Giants at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The win saw the Warriors improve to 24-15-0-2 and remain four points back of the Medicine Hat Tigers for second place in the Eastern Conference.
Savoie doing what Savoie does shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone, but that didn’t make his first game with his new team any less spectacular.
“You want to make your mark early and show what you can do early and I think going to a new team there can be some nerves sometimes, but I was just really excited to get back on the ice and it was really nice to get that win in the first game,” Savoie said shortly after being named the game’s first star.
Savoie played on a line with Atley Calvert and Ethan Semeniuk and immediately had a few chances, but it was when he hit the ice with his World Junior teammates that things really took off.
Savoie, Jagger Firkus, Brayden Yager and Denton Mateychuk would combine for 14 points on the night, with Firkus racking up two goals and four points, Yager a goal and an assist and Mateychuk a goal and three points.
All four players had worked together with Team Canada in Sweden during the World Juniors, and that immediate synchronicity showed on the ice.
“We got the power play clicking right away there and had a knack for finding each other early,” said Savoie, who was part of three goals with the man advantage. “I thought it translated through the game when I had a couple of shifts with the guys who were in Sweden and we had really good chemistry. But the other guys I was playing with too, Calvert and Semmy, I thought I had good chemistry with them, too. It just felt really good out there.”
The majority of the first period was uneventful, even if the Warriors had two of the best scoring chances from an unlikely source. Defenceman Brady Ness just missed on a breakaway in the game’s opening minutes and then nearly finished off a one-on-three solo effort before hitting the post midway through the frame.
The Warriors had a couple more chances as the period progressed before finally breaking through with 17 seconds to play in the period -- and it was a combination that’ll undoubtedly have a lot more points in the second half of the season.
Yager forced a turnover at the Vancouver blueline and hit Savoie with a pass for a short two-on-one with Firkus, followed by Firkus finishing things off with a shot that beat Brett Mirwald blocker side for the game’s opening goal.
The Warriors then extended their lead to 2-0 on their second power play of the game 6:46 into the second period. Yager finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play in the zone by redirecting a perfect pass to the front of the net from Savoie for his 19th goal of the season and 200th point of his career.
Vancouver got one back on their first power play of the game when Ty Halaburda tipped shot in front that just slipped through five-hole. The goal was the first Jackson Unger had allowed in four-and-a-half periods of play.
Mateychuk got that one right back two minutes later, taking a couple strides in off the blueline off a face-off win in Vancouver’s zone and wiring a shot top shelf blocker side.
Vancouver nearly got one back seconds into the third period, but Unger would dive back to make a stellar save with the paddle of his stick to preserve the two-goal edge.
A Giants power play moments later gave them another opportunity, but it would be the Warriors who struck again, and you’ll never guess who.
Savoie picked up the puck in the Giants zone and cut into the slot before ripping a shot top shelf blocker side 1:55 into the period for his first goal as a Warrior.
Three minutes later he had his second, breaking to the side of the net on the power play and banking a shot in off a defender to make it a 5-1 contest.
The Giants caught a break on their second goal when Will Subject put a harmless-looking shot on net from a hard angle, only for it to bank off a player in front and in.
The Warriors' power play struck again with 4:15 remaining, as Savoie found Firkus alone at the side of a net and he’d put a shot in close over Mirwald’s shoulder.
Firkus appears to have taken his initial Team Canada sleight extremely personally, as ever since his return to the team after selection camp, the 19-year-old Seattle Kraken prospect has put up no less than 19 points in his five games and is on a 14-game point streak. Firkus has also closed to within a single point of the WHL scoring lead with 31 goals and 74 points in 36 games.
Rookie defenceman Connor Schmidt then got in on the action with two minutes to play, pouncing on a rebound off the boards and wiring a shot home.
Unger had a relatively pedestrian night in goal, facing only a handful of serious chances and stopping 25 shots, while the Warriors had 45 on Mirwald.
The Warriors now have wins in seven of their last eight games and will look to keep the roll going with some big games on the horizon.
“Even when we were in Sweden, we were watching and keeping up with how these guys were doing and you could tell they have a really, really good team,” Savoie said.”Even being here such a short time, you can tell we really have a special group here and I’m happy I can be a part of it.”
The Warriors are back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 17 when the Lethbridge Hurricanes are in town, Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
