The Moose Jaw Warriors are heading into the Christmas break on a high note.
The Warriors scored two goals in each period and would go on to a 6-2 win over the Regina Pats on Friday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, snapping a two-game mini skid and maintaining their hold on fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Moose Jaw improved to 20-12-0-0 with the victory, remaining five points back of Saskatoon for third and a point ahead of Lethbridge.
The contest ended up as the best of in a Warriors uniform for forward Harper Lolacher, as the 17-year-old forward enjoyed his first two-goal game and now has six goals and eight points on the campaign.
“It felt good to win, the boys all worked together and it feels good going into the break with a win,” Lolacher said. “I just did what I could and it came together. And I had family in the stands, so hopefully they liked that. It was nice to get some goals for them and celebrate Christmas.”
It certainly didn’t hurt that head coach Mark O’Leary had the confidence in Lolacher to slot him in on a line with Jagger Firkus and Brayden Yager, the team’s top two scorers.
That paid dividends in the first period when Lolacher scored the Warriors’ second goal with six minutes to play. A Lucas Brenton point shot eluded Regina goaltender Drew Sim and dropped to the side of the net, and Lolacher was in the right place at the right time to fire the puck into the open cage.
The Pilot Butte product would strike again with 8:47 remaining in the game, tipping home a Logan Dowhaniuk point shot for the Warriors’ second power play goal on the night.
“Right now I’m really confident in my game and I’m starting to put the puck in the net and produce,” said Lolacher, who also scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal back on Dec. 9 and now has four goals and five points in the Warriors’ last four games. “Playing with Firk and Yags today was a good test for me and I thought I did well and they played well, too, we had a good game as a line. Everyone else was awesome, too, they all put their part in and worked hard.”
The Warriors opened scoring just over a four minutes into the contest, and it was a milestone marker for one of the team’s young call ups. Atley Calvert got off the original shot on goal and 16-year-old Ethan Hughes was rewarded for going hard to the net, getting a piece of the rebound and putting it past Sim for his first Western Hockey League goal.
Hughes and fellow affiliate player Noah Degenstein had been called up to fill the roster openings left by Martin Rysavy and Robert Baco playing for their respective national teams at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Regina’s Alexander Suzdalev made it a 2-1 game before the period was out. Braxton Whitehead picked off a Warriors clearing attempt and found Suzdalev alone in the slot, with the Washington Capitals prospect putting a quick shot past Connor Ungar.
The Warriors received their first power play seconds into the second period and would make it count. A Yager point shot redirected in front of the Pats goal right to Firkus, and like Hughes before him, he’d put the puck into the wide-open net.
The hockey gods continued to smile on the Warriors at the 8:28 mark of the period, as yet another redirection in front of Sim led to another perfect scoring chance at the side of the net, and Eric Alarie would be johnny on the spot to put a shot home.
The Warriors continued to press over the next five minutes, but Regina would hit the board next. Suzdalev hammered a vicious one-timer off a pass from Layton Feist to pull the Pats back within a pair.
Ryder Korczak got on the scoreboard with his eighth goal of the season and third point of the night midway through the third, finishing off a two-on-one with Yager by tipping a pass top corner on Sim.
Lolacher then scored his second to wrap up scoring on the night.
Ungar wasn’t overly busy and turned aside 27 shots to earn his 15th win, second best in the WHL in that category. Sim had 35 saves.
The Warriors now head into their Christmas break, with their next action on Wednesday, Dec. 28 when they host the Winnipeg Ice.
“I think it’s going to be good for everyone to have a break, have some time to focus on their family and themselves, then it’ll be time to come back and go back to work,” Lolacher said.
