Warriors use offensive depth, solid goaltending to take win in Swift Current

The Moose Jaw Warriors will look to become road warriors over the next two weeks, and they got things off to a good start on Saturday night.

Moose Jaw scored a pair of goals in the second period and would go on to a 6-0 victory over the Swift Current Broncos in Western Hockey League action from the Credit Union iPlex.

The contest is the first of eight straight games on the road over 14 days, as the Warriors head out on a five-game road swing through the B.C. Division this week before stopping in Red Deer and Calgary on the way home.

Moose Jaw improved to 13-8-0-0 with the win and sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, four points back of Saskatoon for third and a point up on Lethbridge and Calgary.

The Warriors opened scoring 3:30 into the game when Ryder Korczak blocked a shot at the blueline and went in on a shorthanded breakaway, with Broncos netminder Reid Dyck managing to make the initial save. Korczak picked up the rebound and fired a pass out front to Brayden Yager, and 2023 NHL Draft prospect would make no mistake with a quick shot into the wide-open cage.

Robert Baco scored his second goal in as many games 2:42 into the second period, finishing off a string of pressure in the Swift Current zone by tipping home a Lucas Brenton point shot.

Jagger Firkus extended his point streak to 14 games with 6:44 remaining in the second, taking a feed off the boards from Martin Rysavy, cutting into the slot and beating Dyck high glove side for his 12th goal of the season.

The Warriors extended the lead to four goals with 10:14 gone in the third, and it was more production from all four lines. This time, Riley Ginnell forced a turnover along the boards and found Tate Schofer in the right face-off circle, with his shot deflecting right to Nathan Pilling at the side of the slot. Pilling would fire home into the open net for the 4-0 lead.

Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk made it 5-0 six minutes later, and it was a weird one. Korczak forced a turnover in the Swift Current zone and found Mateychuk at the side of the slot, with his initial shot blocked before the rebound came right back to the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect. Dyck lost track of the puck, and Mateychuk put an easy shot into the open cage.

It was Josh Hoekstra’s turn to get in on the scoring with 2:40 remaining, picking up the puck on the blueline, stickhandling around a Broncos defender and putting a shot past Dyck on a slick individual effort.

Connor Ungar held the fort from there and would pick up his first shutout in a Warriors uniform, stopping all 29 shots he faced. The clean sheet saw Ungar’s goals against average drop to 2.37 on the season and moved him into sixth place in the WHL in that category. The win was also Ungar’s 10th of the campaign, third-best in the league.

The Warriors are back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 23 for the first game of the B.C. trip, that in Prince George against the Cougars.