Physical, fast hockey. That was what fans were treated to on Friday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The Moose Jaw Warriors came away with a hard fought 4-1 win over the Everett Silvertips to open up a weekend set against the U.S. Division in downtown Moose Jaw.
“It felt like a playoff game,” Warriors assistant coach Scott King said. “They’re a real good team, they’re really structured, so we knew it was going to be a test, but I thought we did a really good job.”
The win was the fourth straight for the Warriors, who are now 8-4-0-0 this season.
“The guys are starting to understand, especially when you play against good teams, details of the game, managing pucks, playing for us and not necessarily forcing things and so it’s a maturing and growing process for the team,” King said.
“We’re definitely showing that we can play against the top teams and that’s what we want to be.”
Connor Ungar was stellar in goal for the Warriors, making 46 saves to back stop the team to the win.
The 20-year-old goalie is now 7-1-0-0 with a 2.12 goals against average and a 0.939 save percentage in nine appearances to start the season.
“He’s the backbone of this team,” Warriors forward Jagger Firkus said. “He’s an unbelievable goalie, he’s one of those guys that steps up when he needs to.”
Ungar made the first save throughout the night and the Warriors played a strong game defensively to limit Everett’s second chance opportunities to limit the Silvertips to one goal.
“Our D-men did a really good job of making sure we’re cleaning pucks,” Firkus added.
Firkus opened the scoring for the Warriors with 37 seconds to play in the first period. The Seattle Kraken draft pick then answered Everett’s game-tying goal early in the second period, scoring just 35 seconds later to retake the lead for good.
Nathan Pilling added an insurance marker late in the second period and Brayden Yager sealed the win with an empty net goal in the final seconds.
Jackson Berezowski had the lone goal for Everett early in the second as the Silvertips dropped to 7-4-0-0 as they open their East Division road trip.
Friday’s win was the first home win for the Warriors against Everett in ten years.
“There’s momentum going right now in the room, we’re playing good and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon,” Firkus said.
The Warriors will host the Tri-City Americans on Saturday night at the Hangar. Puck drops at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on Country 100 with the voice of the Warriors' James Gallo.