A slow start didn’t stop the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night.
Despite giving up a goal in the opening two minutes, the Warriors cruised to a 5-1 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings, thanks to four goals in the third period.
“About 10 minutes into the first, we kind of figured it out a bit more and then come the second period, we were a little bit better and come the third, we were just firing on all cylinders,” Warriors defenceman Logan Dowhaniuk said.
Harper Lolacher and Ryder Korczak picked up two goals each, while Atley Calvert scored the other on the night.
Dowhaniuk, Denton Mateychuk and Eric Alarie had two assists each in the win for the Warriors.
“We found a way to win by just sticking with it and starting to shoot the puck a little bit more as the game went on and managing their rushes,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said.
Dowhaniuk helped lead the charge for the Warriors with a physical game. He said that’s going to be key for the Warriors as the season progresses.
“I remember last year, going through all the playoffs, it was tough on the body for sure, being nasty and physical and I’m just trying to bring that throughout the regular season,” he said.
Former Warrior Calder Anderson opened the scoring only 1:23 into the game as the Wheat Kings controlled the early action, outshooting the Warriors 14-7 in the first period.
A late penalty kill in the first gave the Warriors some momentum heading into the second and they finally broke through when Lolacher scored his 10th of the season with 5:52 left in the middle frame.
The Warriors put their foot on the gas in the third period and took the lead on Calvert’s team-leading 27th goal of the season 7:36 into the period.
Korczak helped the Warriors pull away, scoring his 19th and 20th goals of the season, only 59 second apart to put Moose Jaw in front 4-1.
The Warriors finished off the third period onslaught when Lolacher snapped home his second of the night and 11th of the season to seal the win.
Burnett said the key to the in-game turnaround was starting to shoot the puck more to capitalize on bodies in front of the net.
“Guys around the net is going to help you out, but you’ve got to shoot it first,” he said.
Connor Ungar made 32 saves in the win for the Warriors. Moose Jaw and Brandon each finished with 33 shots, but the Warriors outshot the Wheat Kings, 26-19, over the final two periods.
The Warriors went 1-for-1 on the power play and killed off both of the Wheat Kings chances on the man advantage.
The Warriors will look to ride the momentum from Friday’s win into a showdown with the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
The game can be heard on Country 100 with the voice of the Warriors James Gallo.