The Moose Jaw Warriors are off to the second round of the 2024 Western Hockey League Playoffs.
The Warriors finished off a four-game sweep of the Brandon Wheat Kings on Thursday night with a 6-2 win at Westoba Place.
“We stuck with our identity and scored a lot of goals, we didn’t play full 60s at times, but in a game like this, it was big that we played a full 60,” Warriors forward Lynden Lakovic said. “There was times of ups and downs but that’s just playoffs.”
This is the second straight playoffs that the Warriors have completed a first-round sweep after knocking out the Lethbridge Hurricanes in four games in 2023.
“We’re real proud of the group,” Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said. “It’s hard to win series, it’s hard to sweep a series, but the fun part is how many guys contributed to it, everyone in that room had their part in this series.”
Jagger Firkus led the charge for the Warriors in Game 4, finishing with a Gordie Howe hat trick, while Atley Calvert, Rilen Kovacevic, Lynden Lakovic, Denton Mateychuk and Matthew Savoie all finished with a goal and an assist each.
The Warriors scored 24 goals in their first round series win with nine different players scoring multiple goals and 12 different players scoring.
“Having the depth and having the guys that can play in different situations but also have trust in guys that they can play in big moments,” O’Leary said. “It’s one thing to be a guy that can be counted on here or there, but to be counted on when it really counts, to really dig in when it gets hard, that’s a special part of the group.”
The Warriors opened the scoring when Kovacevic wired home his first of the playoffs just three minutes into the game.
Brandon answered back with a goal from Carter Klippenstein only 1:06 later to tie the game.
Only 21 seconds after that, Calvert responded for the Warriors with his second of the playoffs to make it 2-1 early in the game.
Moose Jaw continued to pressure offensively and Lakovic scored his second of the playoffs just before the midway point of the frame to make it 3-1.
With 1:20 to go in the first, Mateychuk let a point shot go that found its way through to make it a three-goal lead for the Warriors after one.
Savoie scored his fifth of the playoffs 7:50 into the second period to put the Warriors in front 5-1.
Brandon cut into the lead with a goal from Rylen Roersma late in the second, but that was as close as they would get.
Firkus lifted the puck into an empty net with 18 seconds to go to give the victory to the Warriors.
“It’s massive [to get the sweep],” Lakovic said. “In playoffs, you’re playing a lot of games and rest is massive, so to get it done in four is huge.”
Jackson Unger was sharp in the win for the Warriors, making 35 saves, including stopping all 15 shots he faced in the third period.
Moose Jaw outshot Brandon 43-37 in the win, while both teams failed to convert on the power play with the Warriors finishing 0-for-3 and the Wheat Kings going 0-for-1.
The Warriors will now host Games 1 and 2 of the second round with their opponent still to be determined.