Moose Jaw, SK – Needing a response after falling in Game 1 on home ice, the Moose Jaw Warriors answered the call on Saturday night.
The Warriors scored seven straight goals to take a 7-2 win over the Swift Current Broncos in Game 2 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, evening the second round series at one game each.
“Right from the puck drop, I thought we played a really good game, they got the first one, but we didn’t let that set us back, we bounced back and took it to them the rest of the game,” Warriors forward Brayden Yager said.
Yager helped lead the offensive charge for the Warriors with a hat trick and five points, while Captain Denton Mateychuk picked up a goal and six points on the night.
Mateychuk’s six points are the most by a Warrior in a playoff game in the modern era (1996-present).
Matthew Savoie chipped in with two assists in his return to the lineup after missing Game 1.
“You need your best players to be your best players, Yager has a lethal shot and he put it to good use tonight,” Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said.
“I thought from our whole leadership group, everyone performed very well.”
After falling 7-2 in Game 1 and then giving up the first goal in Game 2, Yager said the Warriors did a good job of staying focused on the bench.
“That’s what playoffs is all about, you never want to get too high or too low, that’s when you get yourself in a little bit of trouble, so we did a really good job of staying pretty even keeled,” he said.
“The crowd’s pretty crazy and they were super exciting and gave us a lot of energy.”
After Josh Filmon opened the scoring midway through the first period for the Broncos, the Warriors answered back when Yager wired home a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 1-1 after one.
With a power play early in the second, the Warriors were able to get rolling thanks to Yager’s second of the game just 1:56 into the middle frame.
Only 39 seconds later, Mateychuk unleased a laser for his third of the playoffs to put the Warriors in front 3-1.
The Warriors continued to pressure and just 2:01 later, Yager found Jagger Firkus for a one-timer for his fourth of the playoffs to make it 4-1.
Yager completed the hat trick with his sixth of the playoffs only 1:25 later to extend the Warriors’ lead to four goals.
Midway through the second, Martin Rysavy pushed home his third of the playoffs and then just under two minutes later, Kalem Parker wristed in his first career playoff goal to make it 7-1 after two.
The Broncos added a late shorthanded goal by Caleb Wyrostok to make it a 7-2 win.
Jackson Unger put together a strong bounce back performance in the Warriors’ net, making 25 saves in the win, while the Warriors scored seven goals on 25 shots against Broncos goalie Reid Dyck. Joey Rocha came on in relief and stopped all 14 shots he faced.
The Warriors finished 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, including a shorthanded goal.
The series will now shift to Swift Current for Games 3 and 4, starting on Tuesday at the InnovationPlex.