Moose Jaw, SK – The Moose Jaw Warriors returned to the Hangar with a bang on Friday night.
The Warriors secured their seventh straight win, knocking off the Regina Pats, 6-3, at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“It was loud in here and it was an exciting game, putting six up on the board, a couple of breakdowns here and there, but overall I liked our performance,” Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said.
Matthew Savoie led the charge for the Warriors with a milestone night offensively with two goals and three points. The Buffalo Sabres prospect scored his 100th career Western Hockey League goal and earned his 250th career point in just 178 career games.
“We were really good in the offensive zone, cycling pucks, possessing it, once we got our legs under us in the first period, we controlled play and created a lot of offensive chances,” Savoie said.
Denton Mateychuk also closed in on Warriors’ history with a goal and three points in the win, moving just four points away from breaking the Warriors’ franchise record for points by a defenceman.
Atley Calvert also added a goal and three points as he extended his point streak to 21 games. Jagger Firkus had two assists on the night as well.
The Pats struck first in the game when Zackary Shantz scored just 2:49 into the first period, but the Warriors answered right back with Savoie rifling home his 26th of the season only 30 seconds later.
Later in the first, Brayden Schuurman would do it himself for his 19th of the season to make it 2-1 for the Warriors.
Moose Jaw would extend its lead when Mateychuk’s slapshot found its way in despite him breaking his stick on the shot, making it 3-1 after one.
Calvert converted on the power play only 2:49 into the second period, tipping home his 44th of the season.
Regina would answer back when Braxton Whitehead stole the puck and scored only 1:53 later to make it 4-2 after two.
Savoie wired home his 27th of the season just 3:02 into the third period on the power play to restore the three-goal lead for the Warriors.
Lynden Lakovic added to the lead with his 17th of the season just past the midway point to make it 6-2.
Shantz added his second of the game late in the third to give the Warriors’ a 6-3 win.
“Our depth is contributing huge right now, we’re able to roll four lines, all three pairs and suffocate teams with being energized and just having mismatches,” Savoie said.
Jackson Unger made 25 saves as he collected his 34th win of the season, which moves him just three away from tying Brody Wilms’ single-season franchise record.
The Warriors outshot Regina, 50-28, on the night. Moose Jaw’s power play finished 2-for-3 and they went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
The Warriors are back on home ice on Saturday night to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.