It took a month of slowly, steadily making up ground, but the Moose Jaw Warriors have finally caught the Saskatoon Blades for third place in the Eastern Conference.
While they didn’t do it in the prettiest of fashions on Wednesday night, the Warriors were still able to get the job done, as Max Wanner scored in overtime to give Moose Jaw a 5-4 victory at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.
The win improved Moose Jaw’s record to 28-14-0-2 for 58 points, the same number as 27-9-3-1 Saskatoon. The Blades continue to have four games in hand.
The contest also marked a third straight win over teams listed in the CHL rankings for the Warriors, including their victory over the Portland Winterhawks (honourable mention) last weekend and back-to-back wins over the Blades (eighth).
Saskatoon’s Egor Sidorov opened scoring 4:21 into the game, taking advantage of a bit of puck luck in the process. Tanner Molendyk got a shot off on the rush that deflected in front, with everyone losing track of the puck except for Sidorov, who picked it out of his skates and put a quick shot home.
While the Blades continued to carry the play throughout the period and well into the second, it would be the Warriors who struck next.
Atley Calvert continued his hot streak as of late, outduelling a Blades defender in front and tipping a Ryder Korczak shot past Saskatoon goaltender Austin Elliott.
Not 10 seconds later, the Blades regained the lead. A simple dump in led to miscommunication by Connor Ungar and a Warriors defenceman, giving a hard-charging Connor Roulette a simple tip into the net.
The Warriors were able to get that one back themselves a couple shifts later, this time with Korczak getting a shot off on net that went through Calvert’s screen and found twine. The marker came 1:42 after Roulette’s goal.
The goals kept coming fast and furious, and 1:12 after Korczak’s marker, it was time for the Firkus Circus to come to town. Jagger Firkus spun his way around a defender in the neutral zone, broke down the right wing, toe-dragged around a diving Blades defender and ripped a shot top shelf for the 3-2 Warriors lead.
The goal marked the end of the night for Elliott, who allow three goals on eight shots to that point.
The Warriors kept on coming, scoring their fourth goal inside of 10 minutes at the 6:29 mark of the period. Calvert struck again, finding the puck in front of the net on the power play and shovelling a shot home five-hole for a two-goal edge.
The goal was Calvert’s 100th career WHL point and 25th goal of the season.
Moose Jaw had a chance to make it a three-goal game with a two-man advantage for 1:35 late in the period but wouldn’t be able to score, and shortly after the penalty expired, Saskatoon got back within one. Connor Roulette tipped a centering pass off the wall by Vaughn Watterodt just over Ungar’s pad with 1:52 remaining in the frame.
The Blades used a late-period power play to carry momentum over into the third period and looked to have the game tied with perfect scoring chances on two occasions, but Ungar would make cross-crease pad saves on both opportunities.
Saskatoon kept up the pressure, though, holding the Warriors without a shot through the first 10 minutes of the period, and they’d eventually find the tying goal.
Trevor Wang made it a 4-4 game, pouncing on a rebound to the side of net and putting a shot upstairs with 9:16 to play.
That would be the last goal of regulation, and the contest would eventually head to overtime.
There, Wanner would prove to be the night’s hero, taking a pass from Atley Calvert to the left wing, taking a few strides and ripping a shot top shelf short side on Ethan Chadwick to give his team the 5-4 win.
Ungar finished with 39 saves in the Warriors net, while Chadwick had seven saves in his 30:48 of work.
The Warriors now have a day off before they face the CHL’s top-ranked team in the Winnipeg Ice in back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday in Winnipeg.
Next home action is Friday, Jan. 27 when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
