It certainly showed in the Western Hockey League East Division Hub against the Swift Current Broncos on Friday night.
A little over a week after falling 8-5 to the Broncos with a depleted lineup, the Warriors scored three goals in the second period and rolled to a 6-1 win at the Brandt Centre in Regina.
You only have to look as far as Ryder Korczak to see the difference having everyone back makes. Playing his second game since missing six contests with an upper-body injury, Korczak scored twice, finished with three points and was a dominant force throughout the contest. That offensive production was only part of the benefit of having a first-line player of that type back in the line-up.
“I think that having Ryder as your top-line centre helps everyone slot in to where we see them slotting in,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary. “I think there’s certain things we ask all our players to do, playing a certain way, but there are also some guys who are gifted with offensive ability and Ryder is one of those guys. We give him a little bit of rope, because he’s a creative guy who isn’t afraid to try things, but he keeps other teams honest as well, where there’s a night like tonight where the puck is following him a bit and he can make team’s play… It makes us a better team and he’s our best offensive player, that’s for sure. “
The game as a whole was night and day, too. The Warriors were far more disciplined defensively and virtually eliminated the rash of two-on-ones and odd-man rushes that led to the majority of Swift Current’s goals in their previous meeting.
That carried even more weight than a full line-up in O’Leary’s eyes.
“I think it could be a little bit of both, but I lean on the side of the response from the players,” he said. “Two of the biggest things we wanted to challenge them on today were the start of the hockey game, being ready to start on time, and the odd-man rushes. There’s lots you can do to make sure that doesn’t happen and I thought almost to a man we did a much better job in terms of putting ourselves on the right side of checks and managing pucks properly and making the decision when it was time to play defence and not cheating for offence. So that’s a credit to the guys for playing the right way and limiting the offence coming the other way.”
The Warriors opened scoring with 11:03 gone in the first when Atley Calvert picked up the puck off a turnover at the blueline and found Korczak all alone in front of the Broncos net. Korczak put on a nifty little stickhandling display before putting a shot over goaltender Isaac Poulter’s glove, giving Moose Jaw the 1-0 lead.
The goal was the first for the 17-year-old top-ranked NHL Draft prospect since his return from the injury against Winnipeg on Wednesday.
Swift Current’s Jordan Borysiuk tied the game with 8:26 gone in the second, but the score would stay knotted for only 11 seconds, as Riley Krane would pounce on a rebound off a Calder Anderson shot and get off a quick shot to beat Poulter.
Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product and Broncos defenceman Chase Lacombe picked up an assist on Borysiuk’s goal for his first point of the season.
Logan Doust then put the Warriors up 3-1, jumping up for a two-on-one as Riley Niven left the penalty box and outdueling a Broncos defender in front to lift a shot top corner glove side with 7:03 remaining in the period. The goal was his first of the season after a ton of chances in the Warriors’ previous 14 games.
Korczak made it 4-1 Tribe three minutes after that marker, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play on the power play and ripping a shot top corner blocker side after breaking into the slot.
Eric Alarie tacked on 5-on-3 power play goal midway through the third period, finishing off a perfect backdoor feed from Denton Mateychuk to put the Warriors ahead four goals. The marker was the fifth with the two-man advantage the Warriors have scored on the Broncos this season.
Daemon Hunt added another power play marker with 6:38 remaining, giving him three points on the evening after assisting on the previous two goals.
Swift Current would get one back on a goal by Josh Davies with 1:44 to play to cap off scoring.
Brett Mirwald turned aside 27 shots to earn the victory, while Poulter had 26 stops for the Broncos. Krane finished with a goal and two assists, while Mateychuk also had two helpers. Riley Niven picked up his first WHL point with an assist on Doust’s goal.
The Warriors improved to 7-7-1-0 and moved into a tie for fourth place in the East Division with the Regina Pats.
Moose Jaw is right back in action Saturday night when the host the Saskatoon Blades. Game time is 8 p.m.
