Fans who jumped off the Moose Jaw Warriors bandwagon after their tough opening week might want to think about climbing back on.
The Warriors picked up their third straight win in Western Hockey League action on Saturday night, taking a 4-3 overtime victory over the Regina Pats in Regina.
The win was the second in as many trips to the Queen City this season for Moose Jaw and saw the local crew improve to 3-2-0-0 on the campaign, moving into a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference.
Brayden Yager did the overtime honours, scoring his third goal since returning from NHL training camp at 2:22 of overtime.
Long before that happened, Regina’s Corbin Vaughn opened scoring in the first period, and it didn't take long, The Pats had a bit of pressure in the Warriors zone off the opening face-off and Vaughn would put a shot on net from the point that redirected past a screened Jackson Unger only 21 seconds into the game.
The Warriors would tie things up just over four minutes later, and it was a product of the Firkus Circus. Jagger Firkus stripped the puck from Tye Spencer along the boards, carried all the way down to the goal line and somehow snuck a shot home top shelf short side from an absolutely impossible angle to make it a 1-1 game.
The Warriors then took their first lead of the contest with 2:56 gone in the second, and it was a milestone marker.
Defenceman Connor Schmidt scored his first WHL goal, taking a feed from Lucas Brenton into the Regina zone, and his shot from inside the right face-off circle would beat Kelton Pyne low blocker side. Ethan Semeniuk drew the second assist for his first point as a Warrior.
The remainder of the second period was almost all Warriors as the majority of zone time was in Regina’s end, but sure enough, the Pats would tie the game. Matteo Michaels scored late in the frame, taking a pass from Zane Rowan and slipping a reaching shot home.
It didn’t take long for the Warriors to regain the lead in the third, and it was a bit of a weird one. Lynden Lakovic found some time and space to move in the zone and put a harmless-looking shot on net from the right side that would somehow slip under Pyne and into the goal 4:55 into the period. Aiden Ziprick drew an assist for his first point since joining the team in a trade with Lethbridge earlier in the week.
The Warriors would be unable to make the lead stick, though, as Michaels scored his second of the game with just over three minutes remaining to tie things 2-2.
There things remained until overtime, where Yager would finish things off.
Eric Alarie drew two Pats to him along the boards after a long three-on-three shift and sent a pass to the centre of the zone while being hauled down. Yager had just jumped on the ice on a quick line change and went in all alone, putting a shot low glove side on Pyne -- an almost identical shot to his shootout winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins last weekend.
Unger once again had a solid game in the Warriors net, turning aside 30 shots and making a handful of difficult saves as Regina pressed. Pyne was almost his equal, making 29 saves.
The Warriors are on the road for a pair of games next week, beginning with the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night. Next home action is Tuesday, Oct. 10 when the Calgary Hitmen are in town. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
