Connor Ungar stole the show once again for the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night.
The 20-year-old netminder made 42 saves to propel the Warriors to a 4-2 win over the Portland Winterhawks at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“He’s been incredible all season, he’s got a calming demeanor, a calming influence over the group,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said.
Ungar has now won 20 games this season, one shy of his career-high, and he’s made 40 saves in four of those wins.
“He makes all the saves he should and some he probably shouldn’t,” Burnett said.
With Friday’s win, the Warriors have now secured wins over each of the top four teams in the Western Conference and all three top teams in the Eastern Conference this season.
Warriors forward Eric Alarie said the action was back-and-forth throughout the game.
“It has to be one of the most exciting games of the year,” he said. “We’re happy with the win.”
Alarie scored twice for the Warriors, including the game-winner with 1:54 left in regulation.
The 19-year-old forward said things are clicking with his linemates Ryder Korczak and Atley Calvert.
“We complement our game real well, we’re good at getting the puck down low, we’re pretty gritty and we’ve played a lot of games together, you get to know each other’s tendencies and we’re playing good tonight,” Alarie said.
Portland opened the scoring when James Stefan scored eight minutes into the first period.
The Warriors answered back when Cosmo Wilson buried his first WHL goal, tying the game with 5:24 left in the first period.
Burnett said Wilson did a great job of jumping right into the play off the bench on the goal.
“He steps right into that, if he’s sleeping on the change or he’s not into the play, he might not get that,” he said. “He just continues to develop and continues to get better as the year goes on.”
Alarie put the Warriors in front with just 11 seconds to play in the second period, burying a rebound on the power play to make it 2-1 after two.
The Winterhawks tied the game with a power play goal from Jack O’Brien just 6:30 into the third period.
Moose Jaw moved back in front when Alarie wired home his 12th of the season with just under two minutes left in regulation.
Korczak fired the puck into the empty net with one minute to play to seal the win.
“It was a heck of a game, I thought both teams played pretty good and it was definitely up and down the sheet and made for some exciting hockey,” Burnett said.
Portland goalie Jan Spunar made 28 saves in the loss.
The Warriors were 1-for-1 on the power play, while the Winterhawks finished 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
Moose Jaw will finish off its busy week in Brandon on Saturday night. Country 100 has all the action starting at 6:40 p.m. with the pre-game show.