The Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors were looking for better discipline heading into Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League action this week, and no sooner did things improve on that front than did they return to the win column.
The Warriors allowed the Estevan Bears only three power plays and would go on to a 5-3 victory in league action at the Moose Jaw Events Centre on Wednesday night.
It certainly didn’t hurt that they got off to a solid start, too.
Grady Hoffman scored the game’s opening goal only 25 seconds into the proceedings, and Connor Miller hit the back of the net on the power play just over two minutes later as the Warriors took a 2-1 lead out of the opening frame.
Hoffman scored his second of the game on power play midway through the second before Miller and Dylan Duzan added third-period goals.
Liam Fitzpatrick picked up a pair of assists and moved into a tie for second in SMAAAHL scoring with three goals and 12 points in the first six games of the campaign.
Ryan Hicks turned aside 14 shots to earn the win in goal.
Carter Onrait, Blaze Gutzke and Kole Keen scored for Estevan, while Riley Deck made 29 stops in goal for the Bears.
The Warriors improved to 3-2-0-1 and sit tied for fourth place with Swift Current, one point back of the Notre Dame Hounds for third. The Bears fell to 1-5-0-1 to sit tied for 10th place in the 12-team league.
The Winmar Warriors are back in action on Saturday when they host the Saskatoon Blazers. Game time is 1:30 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
