When you’re on the second last day of a seven-games-in-14-days road trip, it would be hard to expect perfection from any hockey team.
And while the Moose Jaw Warriors were far from perfect, they were still able to get the job done against the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday night in Red Deer.
Ryder Korczak had two goals and three points, and the Warriors would go on to a 5-2 victory in Western Hockey League action.
The win was the fifth in a row for the Warriors -- the longest active winning streak in the WHL -- and fifth win in six games on the road trip.
Moose Jaw is now 18-9-0-0 on the season and sit two points back of the Saskatoon Blades for third place in the Eastern Conference, with the two teams now having moved within four points of the second place Rebels.
Brayden Yager opened scoring only 1:28 into the game, taking a feed in the slot from Marek Howell along the left wing and beating Rebels goaltender Kyle Kelsey low along the ice.
Jagger Firkus drew the second assist on the goal, and that put him in the Warriors record books. The helper gave Firkus points in 20 straight games, the second longest ongoing run in the WHL, and set the internet-era record for the longest Warriors scoring streak.
Jayden Halbgewachs had a 19-game run during his 129-point campaign in 2017-18; Chad Hinz went on a 19-game heater during a 1996-97 season that saw him put up 84 points.
The Warriors held that lead through the first period, but it only took 36 seconds into the second for Red Deer to tie things up. Frantisek Formanek took a shot from the left faceoff circle that went off the end boards and right to Mats Lindgren at the side of the net, and he’d put a quick shot home to tie things 1-1.
Red Deer kept up the pressure and once again, it was thanks to a solid showing from Connor Ungar that the game remained tied. All told, the Rebels would outshoot the Warriors 12-0 in the first six minutes of the period.
But for all those chances, it was Moose Jaw who struck next.
Matthew Gallant put home a shot from the point through traffic to give Moose Jaw back their lead, and with Korczak picking up an assist on the play, the overage forward now has points eight straight, covering every game since his return to the line-up on Nov. 18.
That marker came at 8:18 of the period and just over four minutes later, it was a 3-1 game.
Max Wanner did the honours this time, taking a pass at the blueline from Atley Calvert and working his way into the zone before beating Kelsey glove high and just under the crossbar.
All told, Red Deer had 20 shots in the period to the Warriors’ four, and ended up with a 33-13 advantage on the shot clock heading into the final frame.
The Rebels once again struck early to start the third period, this time with Christopher Sedoff scoring four-on-four only 33 seconds into the proceedings.
Winning puck battles led to the Warriors fourth goal, and it was Calvert who did the hard work on the play before getting a pass out to Korczak at the edge of the slot. A quick shot low blocker side and Moose Jaw once again had a two-goal edge with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Red Deer had a chance to make things plenty interesting late when the Warriors took a penalty with 2:51 to play, and with Kelsey pulled they had a 6-on-4 advantage.
The Rebels nearly got within one on a shot from the point that found its way through traffic, but it would go off the crossbar and right to the stick of Korczak, who would put the puck down the ice and into the open net.
Ungar finished his night with 41 saves for his 13th win of the season, taking over second place in the WHL in that category. His save percentage improved to .927, tops among goaltender with 1,000 minutes played.
The Warriors wrap up the road trip on Sunday afternoon, when they travel to Calgary to face the Hitmen. Puck drop is 3 p.m. from the Saddledome.
