The Moose Jaw Warriors just keep rolling along.
Their first game back at the Moose Jaw Events Centre after winning six straight through the U.S. Division was more of the same, as the Warriors took a 3-0 lead out of the first period against the Regina Pats and never looked back on their way to a 6-3 victory in Western Hockey League action.
Moose Jaw improved to 41-19-0-2 and thanks to a Saskatoon win over Medicine Hat have now moved seven points clear of the Tigers for second place in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors are also now within nine points of Saskatoon.
“We came out pretty well and kind of fell asleep in the second, but it was good in the third and we got the job done,” said Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk, who had a goal and two assists. “We were moving the puck well and our breakouts were good, we were exiting the zone clean most of the time and that always helps getting into the offensive zone and out of your zone. That was the big thing tonight.”
Regina opened scoring 2:49 into the game when a turnover behind the net led to Cole Temple sending a pass out front to Zakary Shantz, and his one-timer would go top shelf for the quick 1-0 lead.
The Warriors took absolutely no time to get that one back, as on their first rush after the Pats marker, Matthew Savoie would score a shot from the right face-off circle while breaking down his wing. The goal came only 30 seconds after Regina got on the board/
Atley Calvert picked up an assist on Savoie’s goal, running his current league-best point streak to 21 games.
Moose Jaw then took the lead with 5:40 to play in the period, with Brayden Schuurman breaking across the front of the net before tucking the puck around Pats goaltender Ewan Huet. It wasn’t immediately apparent that Schuurman had scored, but Martin Rysavy was at the top of the crease to put home the loose puck regardless. A quick goal review gave the goal to Schuurman for his 19th of the season.
Mateychuk then made it 3-1 Warriors with 48 seconds to play in the first, with his broken-stick shot from the point redirecting at least a couple of times before going off of Huet’s glove and in.
Calvert then hit the goal tally himself 2:49 into the second, and it was bog-standard for the Warriors overager -- set up in front, redirect a pass to the top of the crease and celebrate his 45th goal of the campaign.
Jackson Unger had some bad luck behind his own net on Regina’s second goal, when his attempted pass was picked off by Braxton Whitehead, and a quick wrap-around got the Pats back within a pair 4:42 into the second.
The Warriors sent their league-best power play back to work in the first couple minutes of the third period, and they would capitalize. Some slick passing in the Regina zone led to Savoie getting off a shot from the high slot to score is 27th and make it a 5-2 lead 3:02 into the third.
Mateychuk picked up the second assist, giving him three points in the game and moving the Warriors captain into second all-time in defenceman scoring past Scott Schoneck. Mateychuk also now sits four points back of Nathan Paetsch as the top-scoring Warrior defenceman in team history.
“It’s pretty awesome. I’ve been in Moose Jaw my whole career and I love this place, and it’s a pretty big moment,” Mateychuk said. “It’s something I never thought of coming into the season, but the points will come if you’re playing well and hopefully it keep going.”
Another great passing play led to Moose Jaw’s sixth goal. Calvert and Savoie set up Lynden Lakovic for a shot from the slot into the wide-open net with 8:06 to play in the game. The goal was Lakovic’s 17th of the campaign.
A turnover in the Warriors zone led to Regina’s third goal and Shantz’s second of the night with 3:10 to play, but that’s as close as the Pats would get.
Unger had a relatively calm evening, turning aside 25 shots and making a handful of big saves. Things were far busier at the other end of the ice, as the Warriors fired 50 shots at Huet.
The Warriors are back in action on Saturday night when the Lethbridge Hurricanes are in town, and the local squad will be looking for an improved performance after falling 6-3 to the Hurricanes in their last loss before their seven-game win streak.
“They play hard on their forecheck and we have to be strong in all three zones,” Mateychuk said of what they’ll need to do to get the win. “We have to make sure the d-zone is solid and we’re staying below the puck and things like that and things should go well.
Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
