Moose Jaw Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk all but guaranteed his team would be better Saturday after what they went through in Western Hockey League action the previous night, and to say the least, that’s exactly what happened.
Less than 24 hours after surrendering 11 straight goals to the Brandon Wheat Kings in one of the most lopsided home-ice losses in recent history, the Warriors scored a pair of goals in the first period, put up three more in the second and would go on to a 6-2 victory in Brandon.
The Warriors improved to 22-13-0-0 with the win, moving three points clear of Lethbridge for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and six points back of Saskatoon for third, though the Blades have four games in hand.
The Warriors came out firing right off the opening faceoff, generating a handful of chances in the opening minutes. And while it took longer than the opening 60 seconds to get on the scoreboard, Moose Jaw once again opened scoring inside of the first five minutes, and it was a familiar face.
Jagger Firkus picked up the puck on the right face-off dot and got a quick shot top blocker side that beat Brandon starter Carson Bjarnason, giving the Warriors a 1-0 edge 3:48 into the proceedings.
The Warriors continued to carry the play and found themselves outshooting the Wheat Kings 7-0 through the first nine minutes.
Firkus would strike again with 25 seconds remaining in the period, forcing a turnover at the blueline and going in on a two-on-one break with Brayden Yager before keeping and firing a shot home. The marker was the second shorthanded goal of the season for the Seattle Kraken prospect.
The Warriors made it a 3-0 lead on their fourth man-advantage of the game early in the second period. Atley Calvert fished the puck out of a scrum and found Firkus, who got a pass off to Ryder Korcak and the New York Rangers prospect would make no mistake on the opportunity.
Warriors goaltender Connor Ungar took the majority of damage on Friday night, but was stellar in early going Saturday, with one of his biggest saves of coming just over six minutes into the second period when he robbed Nolan Ritchie on a cross-crease scoring chance.
The Warriors’ power play struck again with 7:34 remaining in the second, this time with Calvert taking a pass from Korczak to the top of the crease and lifting a shot glove side past Bjarnason.
Less than two minutes later, a big hit by Logan Dowhaniuk sprung Erlic Alarie down the left wing, and he’d put a shot home to extend Moose Jaw’s lead to 5-0 and chase Bjarnason from the game.
The Wheat Kings goaltender would leave the contest in favour of Nicholas Jones, allowing five goals on 24 shots in 34:28 of play.
Nate Danielson got one back for Brandon before the period was out, and Brandon continued to press early in the third period, with Luke Shipley breaking through to make it a 5-2 game 2:24 into the final frame.
The Wheat Kings continued to push but had nothing to show for it, and the Warriors broke through with their sixth goal midway through the frame.
Harper Lolacher continued his solid play as of late, finding a rebound off a Firkus point shot and stuffing the puck home.
Firkus capped the contest with a goal and four points, and that had an impact not just on the scoreboard -- the 18-year-old moved up seven spots in the WHL scoring race and now sits tied for fourth overall with 21 goals and 48 points in 35 games.
Ungar capped his solid night in net with 31 saves to earn the victory, while the Warriors had 12 shots on Jones through the remainder of his appearance.
The Warriors are back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 4 when they travel to Lethbridge. Next home action is Friday, Jan. 6 when they host the Calgary Hitmen. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
