The Moose Jaw Warriors always knew captain Denton Mateychuk would have an impact when he returned to the team from the National Hockey League, and that’s exactly how things turned out on Tuesday night against the Calgary Hitmen.
Mateychuk -- who had returned to Moose Jaw from Columbus Blue Jackets camp less than 24 hours earlier -- had a pair of third-period assists as the Warriors scored three goals in the final frame and went on to a 5-3 victory at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The Warriors improved to 5-3 on the season and have moved into a tie with Lethbridge for first place overall in the Eastern Conference while also taking over first place in the East Division.
Mateychuk had arrived in Moose Jaw late Monday but was able to take part in the morning skate Tuesday and looked more and more like his old self as the game progressed.
“I was a bit tired, but those are just excuses and felt like I got me feet under me after the first couple of shifts and started to feel a lot more comfortable,” he said “It’s a bit of an adjustment, but it’s just going out there and playing your game.”
The way the game played out wasn’t perfect, as the Warriors took a 2-0 lead out of the first period but found things all tied up 2-2 through two.
Two goals 37 seconds apart early in the third gave Moose Jaw control of the game, though and the home side would never look back.
“The first period we played well and there were a couple things we could have cleaned up and in the second it was penalties and power plays, kind of a weird period that got us out of our rhythm,” Mateychuk said. “But we came out in the third and kind of took it to them. We played like we should have at the start of the game and it all worked out.”
The first half of the opening period was back-and-forth before the Warriors opened scoring midway through the frame.
Owen Berge scored the first of his Western Hockey League career, with Ethan Semeniuk playing set-up man after beating a defender into the corner. Semeniuk sent a pass out into the slot and Berge was in the right place at the right time to put a shot home five hole on Calgary starter Alex Garrett.
Lynden Lakovic then made it a 2-0 game on the Warriors’ second power play of the period, picking up the puck on his wing and putting home a laser beam top corner blocker side with 4:37 to play in the frame.
Calgary got one back just over five minutes into the second period, with Chase Valliant taking advantage of a Hitmen power play to sneak a shot from in close past Jackson Unger and make it a one-goal game.
The Hitmen then tied things up with 6:32 to play in the frame, taking advantage of another power play in the process. Oliver Tulk scored on a shot along the ice from the left faceoff circle that found its way through a screen and into the far corner.
Moose Jaw didn’t take long to regain control of things in the third period.
Brayden Yager restored the lead, finishing off some slick puck movement on the man advantage to put a shot home top shelf glove side 3:29 into the period, with Mateychuk picking up an assist thanks to his long cross-zone pass for his first point of the season.
Brayden Schuurman then scored his first as a Warrior 37 seconds later, taking a pass from Lakovic to the top of the crease and lifting the puck top shelf.
Jagger Firkus extended the edge to three goals, taking a feed at the side of the net and tucking the puck around Garrett with just under six minutes to play. Mateychuk played a major role in the goal, though, carrying the puck through the zone until he was able to find Firkus for the insurance marker.
Seeing his team respond the way they did in the third period was heartening for the Warriors captain, especially given how much parity there appears to be in the league this season.
“Every point matters, and getting that push in the third period was important,” Mateychuk said. “Whether you’re in the playoffs or the regular season, you have to treat it the same and that’s what we were trying to do out there.”
Unger found himself once again facing 30-plus shots and once again made the big saves when necessary, capping his evening with 32 stops, including 15 in the second period. The Warriors had 28 shots on Garrett.
Moose Jaw continues their four-game homestand on Friday night when the Lethbridge Hurricanes are in town for what will likely be an early-season first-place showdown. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
