For two periods, at least.
Winnipeg scored seven unanswered goals in the final frame to run away with the game and go on to a 10-2 victory in Western Hockey League action in Winnipeg.
Carson Lambos scored only 14 seconds into the game for the Ice, but the Warriors would come out of the opening period tied 1-1 after Ryder Korczak scored on the power play four minutes later. The goal snapped a lengthy drought with the man-advantage for Moose Jaw, who had scored only twice in their previous 14 chance and were 0-for-10 on the road.
Those would be the only goals in what would be a competitive back-and-forth first period.
Cole Muir made it 2-1 Winnipeg only 1:54 into the second frame, redirecting a centering pass off his skate and into the wide-open net past Warriors goaltender Carl Tetachuk.
The goal came only seconds after Eric Alarie and Jagger Firkus were left all alone in front of Winnipeg goaltender Daniel Houser, but couldn’t finish off the 2-on-0 opportunity.
A similar situation took place on the third Ice goal. The Warriors had a shot ring off the post after a sustained run in the Winnipeg zone, only to have the Ice take advantage of a defensive breakdown and Chase Bertholet scoring with 16:05 gone in the period.
Eric Alarie got one back for the Warriors with 1:58 to play, as he found himself all alone on the power play and ripped shot high blocker side.
The Warriors ran into penalty trouble to start the third period but were able to kill off a lengthy two-man advantage and draw a penalty of their own shortly after. It would be Winnipeg who would strike shorthanded, though, as Nolan Orzeck intercepted a cross-ice pass at the blueline and scored on a breakaway 4:55 into the third.
The Ice then took advantage of the second Winnipeg two-man advantage 7:43 into the third, this time with Matthew Savoie finishing things off. Mikey Milne made it 6-2 on the second power play as Winnipeg scored twice in 1:24 to take control of the game.
Zach Benson then extended the lead to five goals with 6:07 to play with his third point of the contest.
The Ice had a five-minute power play after Daemon Hunt ran over Benson late in the game, leading to James From scoring Winnipeg’s eighth goal. Muir scored Winnipeg’s ninth goal and his fourth point with 1:10 to play and Connor McClennon scored the double digit goal with 11 seconds remaining.
All in all, Winnipeg had eight different goal scorers on the night and finished 3-for-9 on the power play.
Tetachuk faced 36 shots in taking the loss, the Warriors had 26 shots on Houser.
The Warriors fell to 3-4-0-0 with the loss, Winnipeg improved to 8-0-0-0.
The two teams are back in action Saturday night when Winnipeg is in Moose Jaw. Game time is 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
