Moose Jaw, SK – In a potential playoff preview, the Moose Jaw Warriors put their foot down against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Jagger Firkus and Ryder Korczak led the charge with a goal and four points each as the Warriors doubled up the Hurricanes 8-4 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“We had a real good start, did a lot of things well, a lot of energy, we were playing the right way and we were getting rewarded for it,” Warriors assistant coach Scott King said after the game.
Coming in on their first three-game losing streak of the season, the Warriors came out of the gate flying with Eric Alarie scoring only 17 seconds into the game.
Moose Jaw rolled from there, adding four goals in the second period and two in the third for the big win.
“The start was huge,” Warriors forward Atley Calvert said. “It helps when you can score 17 seconds in, it makes the group feel good and we needed that after what we’ve gone through the last couple of games.”
Calvert finished with two goals and three points in the win. He moves into a tie with David Bararuk for the most goals by a Moose Jaw-born player in Warriors’ history with a team-high 33 this season.
Calvert said the Warriors executed their game plan against the Hurricanes to a tee.
“The majority of the game, we did a real good job of [playing connected and spreading out the defense],” Calvert said. “When you’re connected and making plays out there, it’s easy.”
After Alarie opened the scoring in the opening shift, Calvert added to the lead with a power play goal midway through the first to make it 2-0 after one.
The Warriors struck quickly again in the second, scoring three times in the first seven minutes of the frame.
It started with a power play goal from Korczak just 2:06 into the second, then Martin Rysavy picked up his seventh of the season only 2:28 later, and Firkus fired home his 29th of the year less than three minutes after that.
Lethbridge was able to get on the board with a goal from Tyson Zimmer midway through the period, but the Warriors answered back with Cosmo Wilson’s second of the season to take a 6-1 lead after two.
Moose Jaw added to their lead when Ben Riche batted home his seventh of the season only 2:13 into the third.
The Hurricanes didn’t go away, picking up back-to-back goals from Blake Swetlikoff midway through the period and then another from Tyson Laventure to cut the lead down to three.
Calvert sealed the win for the Warriors, finishing off a give-and-go with Korczak with 1:31 left in regulation to make it an 8-4 final.
“It was one of those nights when we needed a good start and definitely got it,” King said. “We got one and then a couple and you start to feel good and then from there we just got better and better.”
The win was big in the standings as it moved the Warriors five points ahead of the Hurricanes for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
“This was a good building step here and we’re going to have a couple of good games against Swift [Current] this weekend,” Calvert said.
Jackson Unger made 26 saves in the win for the Warriors, while Moose Jaw product Bryan Thomson stopped 10 of 14 shots before being replaced by Harrison Meneghin in the Lethbridge net. Meneghin made seven saves in the loss.
The Warriors are back in action coming up on Friday when they kick off a home-and-home set against the Swift Current Broncos at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.