Brandon, MB – The Moose Jaw Warriors withstood an early and late push from the Brandon Wheat Kings to come away with a big win at Westoba Place.
The Warriors topped the Wheat Kings, 6-4, in Game 3 on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 stranglehold in their best-of-seven first-round series.
“It was a really important win, just to be in control of the series and being able to come back in this barn and hopefully finish it off,” Warriors forward Owen Berge said.
Matthew Savoie drove the offence for the Warriors with two goals and three points, while Denton Mateychuk finished with a goal and two assists in the win.
Jagger Firkus added three assists and Brayden Yager picked up a goal and two points.
“The first and second period were probably the two best periods that we played in the series, as far as sticking to the plan and limiting what they get,” Warriors associate coach Scott King said.
“Obviously in the third, they’re going to push, they’re down and they did that, but I really liked the majority of the game.”
Brandon opened the scoring on a goal from Matteo Michels just 8:33 into the game, but the Warriors answered back 56 seconds later when Owen Berge tipped home a point shot for his second of the series.
Just 1:08 after that, the Warriors took a 2-0 lead when Yager lifted a backhand top shelf of his second of the playoffs.
Only a 1:13 later, Savoie unloaded on a one-timer for his third of the playoffs to quickly put the Warriors in front 3-1 just past the midway point of the first.
The Warriors extended their lead to three goals midway through the second when Savoie wired home his fourth of the series.
Brandon cut the lead back down to on a goal from Roger McQueen just 1:44 into the third.
The Warriors had an answer, however, picking up goals from Connor Schmidt and Mateychuk 1:42 apart to take a commanding 6-2 lead.
The Wheat Kings battled back late with goals from Brett Hyland and Jayden Wiens, but they couldn’t close the gap.
“At some points, I feel like we took the gas off, at the end, we probably could have been a little better, but as a team, we’ve been playing good,” Berge said.
Jackson Unger made 35 saves in the win, while the Warriors outshot the Wheat Kings, 41-39, overall in the game.
Both teams converted on the power play for the first time in the series with Moose Jaw finishing 2-for-4, while Brandon went 1-for-2 on the night.
The Warriors can now advance to the second round with a win in Game 4 on Thursday night. Puck drops at 6 p.m. Saskatchewan time.