The Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors have had more than their share of close games during their recent run of success, but Sunday afternoon wasn’t one of those occasions.
After falling behind 2-0 to the Saskatoon Contacts, the Warriors would score six straight goals and go on to a 6-2 win in Sask Male AAA Hockey League action at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The win was the Warriors' third straight and seventh in their last eight, with the local squad now holding an 18-16-0-4 record and moving within four points of Notre Dame for sixth place in the 12-team league.
For the first 10 minutes on Sunday, it looked as if it was going to be a long afternoon for the home team -- Spencer Chestolowski and Jackson Fox scored for Saskatoon in the opening 9:19, giving the Contacts a quick two-goal edge.
Drew Fleger scored his first of the season for Moose Jaw with 5:36 remaining to get his crew back within one, though, and that would be a sign of things to come from there on.
Austin Woodley tied the game 3:05 into the second, Jonah Pinel gave the Warriors their first lead with 5:36 to play and Liam Fitzpatrick scored his first of the game two minutes later to give Moose Jaw a 4-2 edge through two.
Fitzpatrick then scored his league-leading 28th and 29th goals of the season in the third period, recording his third hat trick of the season. The goals also extended Fitzpatrick’s point streak to 14 games and saw him move into second in SMAAAHL scoring with 59 points, one back of Raiden Zacharias of the Saskatoon Blazers.
Grady Hoffman added three assists and now has 17 goals and 48 points to sit tied for sixth overall in league scoring,
Ryan Bain had another solid game in goal with 21 saves, while Moose Jaw had 34 shots on Saskatoon’s Logan Edmonstone.
The Winmar Warriors are back in action on Thursday night when they host the Regina Pat Canadians. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
