Moose Jaw Warriors goaltender Connor Ungar might have missed his team’s last 17 games, but you’d never know it with how he looked on Friday night in the opening game of the Western Hockey League playoffs.
In fact, to a casual observer, it would be easy to assume the overage netminder not only hadn’t missed any time at all, but was absolutely razor sharp heading into the postseason.
Ungar finished with 50 saves, including 24 in 39:43 of extra time, as the Warriors battled to a 2-1 double-overtime victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final.
“I’m super happy with the outcome, it’s Game 1 and we won,” said Ungar, who joined Max Wanner, Lynden Lakovic and Marek Howell in returning to the team. “It was an important game, the boys showed up to do the job and we did it. So we need the same effort tomorrow and we need to refocus quick.”
Jagger Firkus was the overtime hero, scoring on the power play with 17 seconds remaining in the second extra period.
“It wasn’t a pretty goal, that’s for sure, but it’s like (coach Mark O’Leary) said in the intermission, not many overtime goals are very pretty, so make sure you get to your spots and capitalize on your chances and that’s what I did,” said Firkus, who jumped on a rebound off a Brayden Yager shot from in close and lifted home a backhand top shelf for the winner.
“Obviously Game 1 is a big game, you want to come out and win and lead the series going into Game 2, and this went a bit longer than we had hoped, but we came out with the win and that’s all that really matters this time of year.”
Neither team hit the scoresheet in the first period, but the Hurricanes had the lion’s share of chances in the early going, thanks to a pair of Warriors penalties in the first five minutes. Moose Jaw created more pressure as the period wore on, though, and had a handful of scoring opportunities as time wound down.
The Warriors finally managed to put together sustained zone time to start the second period, and it paid off.
Logan Dowhaniuk continued his hot play as of late and scored the Warriors’ first goal of the playoffs at 4:56 of the frame, taking a pass from Firkus into the slot and beating Hurricanes netminder Bryan Thomson with a shot short side. Dowhaniuk now has points in six of the Warriors’ last seven games, with five goals and eight points in that span.
Lethbridge tied things up with 7:05 to play in the period, and it was a weird one. A turnover in the Warriors zone while on the power play led to Cole Shepard getting off a shot that popped into the air in front of the Moose Jaw net. Ryder Korczak attempted to bat it out of danger, but would instead have the puck drop into the net behind Ungar, and just like that, things were tied 1-1.
And there they would stay until Firkus finished things off almost exactly two hours later.
A boarding penalty to Joe Arntsen with just over a minute to play in the second overtime gave the Warriors a chance to end things, and after killing off two penalties of their own earlier in overtime, they’d get the job done.
“You see double overtime and 50 shots each, there was a playoff atmosphere here tonight,” Firkus said. “Lethbridge isn’t an easy team to play against, they clog up the middle, they play a hard game so it’s big to come out with this win.”
Thing is, for all of Ungar’s heroics -- ranging from a cross-crease paddle save in the first overtime to a handful of huge stops late in regulation that kept things tied -- Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Thomson was just as good at the other end of the ice, finishing with 52 saves of his own.
“I try not to worry about what he’s doing and just do my job,” Ungar said of seeing the opposing goaltender playing just as well. “It’s one shot at a time, that’s really all I can control, and if I focus on that, more often than not I’ll be just fine.”
All four players who returned to the line-up had moments where their presence was felt, and to a man expressed how happy they were to be back in the line-up. Ungar was no exception.
“I’m happy to be here for the playoffs and getting ready to win a championship,” he said. “I just did what I usually do, stayed focussed and it worked out and we’ll come back tomorrow.”
The two teams will be right back on the ice on Saturday night, with Game 2 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre at 7 p.m.
“We have to drink a lot of fluids and get ready for tomorrow because it’s not a long way away,” Firkus said. “It’s really going to come down to whichever team recovers best after a game like this.”
Be sure to check back Saturday for more from the playoffs, including reaction from all four Warriors in their return to the line-up.
