When you’re facing a team on one of the hottest offensive rolls of any squad in the Western Hockey League and seven wins better than you in the standings, any kind of success is a positive.
Jagger Firkus scored 1:05 into the extra frame as the Warriors took a 4-3 victory over the Rebels at Mosaic Place on New Year’s Eve.
“As a coaching staff we talked about keeping them to three or less, we had confidence that we could score four goals,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary. “That's what we did here tonight, and when it was time to really check and to be heavy in front of our net, I thought we did a pretty good job there. And aside from the five-on-three goal, our penalty kill was really good tonight. Those were some big keys for us.”
The Warriors came out firing off the opening face-off and nearly scored in the opening seconds, but it would take until the 5:40 mark for them to break through. Brayden Yager did the honours, going in on a three-on-one before taking a feed from Riley Niven and ripping a laser beam top corner glove side on Rebels starter Chase Wutzke.
The Warriors took that lead into the second period and extended their edge to 2-0 when Eric Alarie scored on a scramble in front of the Red Deer net.
“I really liked the way that we started the game, I thought we had energy and enthusiasm, and we take pride in the way that we start,” O’Leary said. “I think we hit a little bit of a lull in the second period, where they were a little bit quicker to loose pucks, but at the end of the day, even with that lull in the second period they really didn't have a whole lot of scoring chances. I think we did a pretty good job and certainly deserved to win.”
Jace Islay scored Red Deer’s first goal at the 10-minute mark of the second period, and five minutes later, Chris Sedoff's shot from the point on the aforementioned two-man advantage tied the contest, where things would stay until the third.
The Warriors retook the lead 5:52 into the final frame as Alarie and Robert Baco went in on a two-on-one from centre ice, ending when Alarie hit Baco cross-crease for the tap in.
Red Deer took advantage of their own two-on-one five minutes later to tie things up. Blake Stevenson attempted to send the puck cross-ice on the scoring opportunity but had it go off a defenceman sliding to block the pass, with the redirection besting Warriors starter Jackson Unger.
That set the stage for overtime, where Firkus was johnny-on-the-spot in front of the Red Deer net for a feed from Denton Mateychuk, and one tap in later, the Warriors had their third straight win.
Moose Jaw improved to 16-14-1-1 and are now tied with Brandon for fifth in the Eastern Conference, a single point back of Saskatoon and five points up on COVID-idled Swift Current.
It’s as positive a start as can be to the second half of the season for the local crew, and one they hope is just a sign of things to come.
“We’re .500 coming into the second half and that's really how our first half was, a step forward to step back, just back and forth,” O’Leary said. “We want to get a little bit more consistency in terms of playing our style of game and it's nice to start the new year fresh with a win.”
Unger made 19 saves in earning the victory -- a far cry from Red Deer’s previous two showings where they racked up 15 goals on 40-plus shots a night in wins over Saskatoon and Prince Albert. Wutzke, the Rebels 15-year-old Saskatoon Contacts call-up, made 26 stops in the loss.
The Warriors are right back in action on New Year’s Day when they travel to Regina to face the Pats. The contest is a late afternoon battle, with puck drop at 4 p.m.
Next home action Jan. 12 when the Warriors host the Calgary Hitmen.
