Moose Jaw, Sask. – Josh Banini had the crowd at the Hangar chanting his name by the end of his first Western Hockey League start.
The 18-year-old goaltender made 48 saves to backstop the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 4-2 win over the Everett Silvertips on Friday night.
“I heard all of that, so it was pretty cool,” Banini said on the crowd getting behind him. “I remember last year, they did the same thing, so it’s nice to know that I’m a little bit of a fan favourite here already.”
After being peppered with 24 shots in the first period, Banini was kept busy over the final 40 minutes, including turning away all 16 shots he faced in the third period to give the Warriors a chance to come away with the win.
The Warriors and Silvertips sat tied at 1-1 after one and 2-2 after two before Lynden Lakovic scored twice in the third period to secure the victory.
“I thought [Josh was] by far the best player on the ice, for his first real taste, his first start in the Western League, he was spectacular,” Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said.
Everett came out firing and got on the board 8:09 into the game when Jesse Heslop banged in a loose puck in the crease.
The Warriors would answer back in the final minute of the opening period when Rilen Kovacevic stuck with it to convert his third of the season with only 14 seconds left in the frame.
Moose Jaw went in front late in the second period when Brayden Yager snapped home his fourth goal in three games with 4:04 to go in the period.
The Silvertips would answer back when Heslop scored his second of the game on 1:46 later, sending the game into the third even at 2-2.
Only 6:11 into the third, Lakovic unleashed a beautiful shot to score his third of the season to put the Warriors back in front.
Banini shut the door from there and Lakovic added an empty net goal with 22 seconds left to secure the win.
After battling through an injury before training camp, Banini said it felt good to finally get his first WHL win.
“I’ve been working for it for so long, so for it to finally come, I can’t even imagine it, I’ve been dreaming about this since I was drafted here,” he said.
The Warriors ended the Silvertips’ six-game winning streak and handed them their first loss on their East Division road trip.
“I wouldn’t say it was our best game, there was a lot of areas that we were a little bit sloppy in, but at the end of the day, regardless of how you get the job done, you’ve got to make sure that everyone is working until the final buzzer and we played with a little bit of desperation,” Pereverzoff said.
The Warriors were outshot, 50-21, by the Silvertips on the night, while Moose Jaw finished 1-for-6 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Next up, the Warriors head to Saskatoon on Saturday night for their first meeting since the Eastern Conference Championship. Puck drops at 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.