Red Deer, AB — The start of a two-game road trip to Alberta went exactly as planned for the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night.
The Warriors scored a hard fought 5-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
“They played a pretty physical game and I liked our push back and the fight that our group had,” Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said. “It was good to get the win there.”
Atley Calvert scored twice in the third period and finished with three points, while Brayden Yager scored the eventual game-winning goal in the second and added two assists in the win.
Denton Mateychuk added two assists on the night to extend his point streak to a WHL-high 20 games, which tied Jagger Firkus for the modern era record for longest point streak in franchise history.
It’s the third straight win for the Warriors as they improved to 16-10-0-1 on the year.
“[Atley] is one of the hardest working players on the team and it’s good to see him get rewarded,” Pereverzoff said.
The Warriors jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a pair of power play goals.
Jagger Firkus scored his 24th of the season 6:08 into the first period and then Brayden Schuurman followed it up with his fourth only 2:30 later to make it an early two-goal lead for Moose Jaw.
Jhett Larson scored only 47 seconds after the Warriors went up by two and then just 12 seconds later, Talon Brigley tied the game up at 2-2.
The Warriors would take the lead for good midway through the second period when Yager ripped home his 16th of the season.
Calvert added some insurance for the Warriors with his 14th and 15th goals of the season in the third period.
“We had a good start, obviously going up two there was great and that’s the way that we want to play, but then we’re on our heels and weren’t able to generate anything in the offensive end, played too much in the D zone,” Pereverzoff said.
“It was good that we were able to turn that around in the second and then find more offence in the third.”
Jackson Unger made 31 saves for the Warriors in the win, while Moose Jaw outshot Red Deer, 37-33, on the night.
Penalties were a big factor as the Warriors finished 2-for-8 on the power play, including four power plays in the third period, and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Warriors will continue their road trip on Sunday against the Oil Kings in Edmonton.