The Moose Jaw Warriors wanted to put together a solid performance to close out their appearance in the Western Hockey League East Division Hub.
They got that and then some against the Saskatoon Blades in their 24th and final contest in Regina on Monday night. And while the end result wasn’t there in a 5-4 overtime loss, the improved performance and resiliency was definitely a positive in head coach Mark O’Leary’s eyes.
“There was a style of game I really wanted to finish on, the result wasn’t there again, but I just thought we played a really good hockey game,” he said. “It’s junior hockey, there are going to be mistakes for sure and I loved our response to some tough bounces and things not going well, but at the end of the day we put ourselves in the position to win. It was a good game for us and we just didn’t get the result.”
Rhett Rhinehart would score with 1:27 gone in overtime to give Saskatoon the win, turning a breakaway off a turnover at the blueline into a 2-on-0 and finishing off a pass from Colton Dach.
Saskatoon opened scoring 3:49 into the game as Kyle Crnkovic picked up a huge rebound off a Blake Stevenson shot and fired a shot into the wide open cage past Boston Bilous.
Warriors forward Logan Doust hadn’t seen a lot of luck through the season, but he caught a break with 7:27 gone in the first as a deflection off a skate in front landed right on his stick, and his quick shot would beat Nolan Maier to tie the game.
Saskatoon regained the lead midway through the second when Crnkovic finished off a shorthanded 2-on-1 by beating Bilous five hole, but Jagger Firkus would tie things up once again seconds later, lifting home a shot from the top of the crease during a scramble in front.
The Warriors did everything they could to take the lead with a late second-period power play but couldn’t find a way past Maier despite generating four official shots and a half-dozen solid scoring chances.
Saskatoon would take advantage of a power play of their own late in the period, when Dach scored eight seconds into the third to give the Blades a 3-2 lead.
Chase Wouters then extended the Saskatoon lead with another power play goal with 5:29 gone in the third.
The Warriors finally broke through on the power play with 7:02 gone in the period, and it was team captain Daemon Hunt who did the honours, with his shot from the point deflecting past Maier.
It was another solid performance from the team’s de facto on-ice leader, and capped off a run in the Hub that he felt was as enjoyable as it was gruelling.
“I think, first of all, it was a lot of fun, I enjoyed my time 24/7,” Hunt said. “We had a lot of ups and downs this year and we’d like to win more games, there were some that we let get out of our hands that we lost. Overall, we got better and I’m excited for next year. Hopefully things get back to normal and I’m excited for it.”
Calder Anderson scored what would be the Warriors final goal of the season with just over four minutes left in regulation, driving wide outside and putting a shot top corner to tie things up 4-4.
The Warriors would have a golden chance to finish things off in the extra period when Cole Jordan just missed on a wide-open one-timer at the side of the net, but Rhinehart would score his game-winner seconds later .
Bilous made 21 saves for the Warriors, Maier had 23 stops for Saskatoon.
The Warriors finish the season with an 8-13-3-0 record and in sixth place in the East Division.
Be sure to check MooseJawToday.com for plenty more from O’Leary, Hunt and the Warriors in the coming days as the team looks back on the strangest season in recent memory.
