The Moose Jaw Warriors and Lethbridge Hurricanes put together an epic battle for Game 1 of their best-of-seven series on Friday night.
The two teams combined for 105 shots and just three goals over 99 minutes of hockey at the Moose Jaw Events Centre with the Warriors pulling out the 2-1 double overtime victory.
“It showed who wanted it more by the end of that… it’s awesome to see that our team never gave up,” Warriors forward Jagger Firkus said after scoring the overtime winner.
Firkus batted home a rebound in the slot with 17 seconds to play in the second overtime period, lifting the Warriors to the thrilling Game 1 win.
“I didn’t really even look at the net, I just saw an opportunity to shoot and shot,” he said. “Not all overtime goals are pretty.”
The Warriors and Hurricanes played a tightly contested game to open their first round series.
“We knew they’d be hard checking, we knew they’d make things tough for us to get through the middle of the ice, through the neutral zone and just play inside the dots,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said. “They are what we thought they’d be and if anybody thought this was going to be an easy series, they’re definitely not thing that anymore.”
Firkus won the game in double overtime, but the game was still going at that point because of Connor Ungar’s stellar return to the net for the Warriors.
The 20-year-old netminder made 50 saves in the victory.
“He’s incredible,” Burnett said. “He’s been that rock back there all year, he’s focused, he’s got a calming demeanor, he makes all the saves that he needs to make some that he probably shouldn’t.”
Moose Jaw product Bryan Thomson also put together an incredible performance in the Hurricanes’ net, making 52 saves in the loss.
The Warriors opened the scoring 4:53 into the second period when Logan Dowhaniuk took a pass from Firkus in the slot and buried the series’ opening goal.
Lethbridge answered back when Cole Shepard benefitted from a bad bounce for Moose Jaw and scored shorthanded to tie the game at 1-1 after two.
The two teams battled back-and-forth in the third, sending the game to overtime.
In the first extra period, the Warriors killed off two penalties to keep the game going into the second overtime.
With just 1:01 left in the fifth period, the Warriors headed to the power play and Firkus capitalized, scoring with 17 seconds left to win the game.
“Playoffs is a great time for that, I’ve got to step up and the last couple of years I’ve been doing a good job of that and hopefully I can keep going through this playoffs,” Firkus said.
The two teams will get some rest and meet back at the Moose Jaw Events Centre for Game 2 on Saturday night at 7 p.m.