When you’re looking to make major strides this season and are eyeing a top-half finish in the Eastern Conference, falling to last place could be devastating for morale. And with how tight things are in the standings right now, that’s exactly what could have happened to the Warriors with a loss.
Instead, Denton Mateychuk scored the overtime winner while Ryder Korczak and Jagger Firkus had goals in regulation as the Warriors took a 3-2 victory.
The win improved the Warriors record to 6-7-0-0 and a tie for third in the East Division. A loss, and they would have been in a four-way tie for last in the Conference.
“You look at those standings, they’re changing all the time because it’s such a logjam,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary. “I think that’s what we’re going to be seeing all year long, it’s going to be a dogfight for playoff spots and positions in the standings. And even during the game last night, you’re looking at other teams like Regina winning, Swift Current winning, P.A. winning, you just want to keep pace. It was an important game before all that stuff was happening, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t watching that for sure.”
The win was the second straight for the Warriors, who rode a Firkus hat trick to a 4-1 win in Lethbridge on Friday night. Given the team’s tough start to the season, getting on the highway seems to have come at a good time for the local squad.
“I think a road trip was exactly what the doctor ordered and I think the guys responded in the right way,” O’Leary said. “The game in Lethbridge was our best effort start to finish in terms of a complete game with everybody really contributing.
“Then facing a little bit of adversity in Med Hat, I felt in the early going if we could have capitalized in the first period we could have really taken control of the game, but they got some saves and answered back. But we found a way to get to overtime and our skill guys did the job.”
Speaking of skill guys, the team’s success certainly wasn’t hurt by the return of team captain and Minnesota Wild draft pick Daemon Hunt from a four-game suspension. He partnered with ‘A’-ranked Central Scouting prospect Denton Mateychuk in both games and brought a controlling influence to the proceedings every time he was on the ice.
“As coaches, when you know you’re going to be missing Daemon for four games, you hope you can hold things together,” O’Leary said. “But a player as good as Daemon, he makes an impact in every area of the game. So sliding him in allows you to slide everyone into their proper slots. And he’s our captain, he’s our best player and most important player and it shows.”
Hunt’s presence also plays a key role in allowing Mateychuk to be more creative with the puck, and as fans who took in the WHL Live webcast the two games, it led to a crazy number of scoring chances in addition to snuffing out offensive zone time for the opposition.
“I thought he was unbelievable all weekend long, he’s a special player,” O’Leary said of Mateychuk’s showing. “He’s got the puck on his stick for so much of the game, and as a defenceman he can play a large part of the game. Between him and Daemon they drive so much of our offence with the way they get the puck out of the zone with their legs or their passing ability and then they’re so dynamic in the offensive zone… they’re important players for our team, for sure.”
Next up will be the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday night, and the Warriors aren’t expecting an easy night against the 9-6-1-0 second-place Central Division crew.
“They play how Red Deer always plays, they’re hard, they’re heavy and they forecheck well, so we’ll need to be ready,” O’Leary said.
Game time is 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
