The Moose Jaw Warriors played a hard-fought road game to come away with a win in Medicine Hat.
The Warriors doubled up the Tigers, 6-3, to secure their first road win of the 2024-25 season on Saturday night at Co-op Place.
“We played hard, we knew that we had to, we knew what we were facing here tonight,” Warriors associate coach Scott King said.
“[Medicine Hat] has had a rocky start, so we knew that they’d come out and give us their best, so I thought we were ready to go right from the start and it’s a game that can go a long way for the group to build some confidence.”
Brayden Yager led the offence with a goal and three points, while Brayden Schuurman added a pair of goals and Rilen Kovacevic had a goal and two points.
The Warriors got a spark late in the first period with back-to-back goals from Noah Degenstein and Deegan Kinniburgh.
“Any time you’re getting goals from your fourth line, that’s a bonus, but they deserved it, they worked hard, they played the right way,” King said.
The Warriors found themselves chasing early in the game as Medicine Hat opened the scoring on a goal from Hunter St. Martin only 3:31 into the game.
St. Martin would make it a 2-0 lead midway through the first period.
The Warriors responded only 1:29 later when Degenstein buried a rebound for his second goal in as many games.
Only 40 seconds after that, Moose Jaw tied the game when Kinniburgh potted his first with the Warriors.
Later in the period, the Warriors would take their first lead of the game when Schuurman tipped home his third of the season, making it 3-2 after one.
Schuurman’s second of the night came just 4:08 into the second period when he finished off a great feed from Lynden Lakovic.
Medicine Hat would get back within one with a power play goal from Oasiz Wiesblatt late in the second to make it 4-3 after two.
The Warriors held strong in the third period and sealed the win with a pair of empty net goals from Kovacevic and Yager in the final three minutes.
“When the games on the line, you need guys to make big plays and sacrifice a bit, whether that’s getting a puck out or blocking a shot, those are plays in a game that can flip it either way,” King said.
The Warriors went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Tigers were 1-for-2 on the night. Moose Jaw outshot Medicine Hat, 29-27, in the game.
With the win, the Warriors get a split of their weekend road trip and sit at 2-3-1-0 this season.
Now the Warriors will return home for a meeting with Landon Dupont and the Everett Silvertips coming up on Friday night at the Hangar.