Warriors Rebound with Saturday Win Over Hurricanes

October 15, 2022 – Western Hockey League (WHL) – Moose Jaw Warriors News Release

A back-and-forth game ended with the Moose Jaw Warriors on top on Saturday night at the Moose Jaw Event Centre.

The Warriors secured a 4-3 win over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes to come away with a split of their weekend games.

“We didn’t play our best game, didn’t have our best weekend, but we found a way to win and that’s what good teams do,” Warriors forward Eric Alarie said.

Moose Jaw trailed 1-0 after the first, but found it’s game as the night progressed and scored three goals in the third period to come away with the victory.

Alarie and rookie forward Ben Riche had a goal and two points each, while Brayden Yager finished with two assists in the win.

“We did a better job managing the puck and thought we had a little bit more energy, we were skating, were checking harder and that helped us out,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said.

Anton Astashevich opened the scoring for Lethbridge early in the first period and the Hurricanes held that lead after one.

Moose Jaw came out flying in the second period and outshot Lethbridge 13-4 in the frame. The Warriors tied the game midway through the period when Alarie snapped home his third of the season.

Yager forced a turnover in the neutral zone and Riche fed Alarie with a cross-ice feed to set up the goal.

“Without the track by Yages, none of that happens and I thought after that, we started to roll a little bit,” Burnett said.

With the game tied at 1-1 heading into the third, the Warriors got the quick start they were looking for as Alarie set up Riche in the slot and he scored just 1:09 into the final frame.

Just 4:23 later, Nathan Pilling banged home a rebound in front for a power play goal to give the Warriors a two-goal cushion.

They needed it as Alex Thacker scored a power play goal for Lethbridge midway through the period to cut the lead back down to one.

The Warriors continued to pressure and 1:39 later, Atley Calvert buried a shot in the slot to restore the two-goal lead for Moose Jaw on the power play.

Just over two minutes later, the Hurricanes cut the lead back down to one, but the Warriors held on from there.

“We didn’t stop in the third, we needed every single goal that we got and I’m proud of the boys for that,” Alarie said.

One night after special teams cost the Warriors in a 4-2 loss to Red Deer, Moose Jaw won the special teams battle, going 2-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-4 on the penalty kill.

Connor Unger made 31 saves in the win for Moose Jaw and the Warriors fired 34 shots on Lethbridge goalie Jared Picklyk.

Moose Jaw will get a few days to regroup before a big showdown with the Regina Pats on Thursday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

It will be Military Appreciation Night at the Hangar. Click here to get your tickets today.

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