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Warriors defeat Brandon for first win of WHL preseason

Hughes scores first goal in Warriors uniform, Firkus has goal and two assists in 4-3 win at Moose Jaw Events Centre

The Moose Jaw Warriors picked up their first win of the Western Hockey League preseason on Friday night, and it was a pair of players at the opposite ends of the experience spectrum that played prominent roles in the outcome.

Ethan Hughes scored his first goal in a Warriors uniform and Jagger Firkus had a goal and two assists as the Warriors picked up a 4-3 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

Hughes, the Warriors’ fourth-round pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, scored what would stand as the game-winning goal with 46 seconds remaining in the second period.

And it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time -- Hughes was simply looking to provide a screen on a Cosmo Wilson point shot but was able to tip the puck past Brandon goaltender Carson Bjarnason.

“I was kind of in shock that it went in, I didn’t really see it,” Hughes said in describing the goal. “But it was obviously good, I just went to the net and got lucky with the tip.”

The contest was the second of the preseason for Hughes, who as a 15-year-old will be returning Edmonton to suit up with the CAC Canadians in the Alberta Elite U18 Hockey League. But he’ll be doing so with plenty of high-level hockey experience under his belt after a full camp with the Warriors.

“It was good, it’s way faster than midget, but I ‘ve been able to adapt and it’s a lot of fun,” Hughes said. “It’s been awesome being around the older guys, it’s such a good time and it’s so fun coming to the rink with these guys. It’s a great experience.”

Firkus, meanwhile, was simply Jagger Firkus. The 18-year-old Seattle Kraken prospect assisted on Brayden Yager’s opening goal in the first period, drew another helper on Marek Howell’s marker at the 5:33 mark of the second and scored an unassisted marker off a turnover at the blueline at 10:23 of the second.

Firkus will head into Kraken camp this week with three goals and five points in two pre-season games and is more than happy how preparation for his first hard taste of the National Hockey League has gone.

“These exhibition games are more to get back in the groove, get my confidence going and the past few games Lears (head coach Mark O’Leary) and the coaching staff have done a great job helping me get back into game shape and that’s huge,” Firkus said. “I had an extra week here than a lot of the other guys, I was able to take advantage of it and I’m excited to get to camp.”

As for the game itself, Firkus was impressed with the resiliency of the youthful crew -- the Warrior had eight players at NHL camps on Saturday night, with Firkus leaving Sunday -- as they were able to respond to whatever Brandon threw at them.

“We were a resilient team last year and I think we showed that tonight as well,” Firkus said. “We want to be a team that never gives up and always believes in each other, and that’s the kind of group we have. We have a lot of guys missing but even then the attitude in the room is to keep going no matter what the shots are or what the score is and we did that tonight.”

Connor Ungar made his first appearance in goal for the Warriors and was solid, turning aside 26 shots to earn the victory. Bjarnason had 18 stops for the Wheat Kings.

Nate Danielson scored a pair of goals for Brandon, Teydon Trembecky had their other marker.

The Warriors are right back in action on Saturday night when they travel to Brandon for their final game of the WHL pre-season.

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