Warriors toss rubber at Rebels net in Wednesday win
Moose Jaw outshot the Rebels 69-21 and skated to a 6-3 win at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer in the first game of their 3-game Alberta road trip.
The Warriors applied plenty of pressure on Rebels goalie Riley Lamb throughout the opening period. Moose Jaw did a good job moving the puck from the boards to the net and outshot the Rebels 22-6 in the first 20 minutes.
Despite being outshot the Rebels snagged the game’s first goal when Mason McCarty converted on a Red Deer power play at 11:51.
Under three minutes later Warriors defenseman Colin Paradis flung the puck from the left point to the Red Deer end boards. 17-year-old rookie Tate Popple grabbed the puck and on his wrap-around attempt from the right goal line he put the puck off the pad of Lamb. 19-year-old Vince Loschiavo jumped on the rebound and scored his 12th of the season and 5th as a Warrior to tie the game at one.
Then with just over three minutes remaining in the frame Justin Almeida chipped the puck up the right wall to Ryan Peckford who then led a rush across the Red Deer line.
As Peckford made his way to the net he spotted Brayden Burke driving the net through the middle of the ice. Peckford tossed the puck over the Burke who guided in his 20th goal of the season to give Moose Jaw a 2-1 lead going towards the intermission.
The Warriors kept attacking in the third period and tossed a lot of rubber towards the Red Deer net. Moose Jaw outshot Red Deer 35-7 in the second period and had a 55-13 advantage through two periods.
Red Deer tied the game at two when Chris Douglas scored at 5:19 but the Warriors went back out in front when Trystin DeRoose scored his 2nd of the season when he deflected a shot from Barrett Sheen.
Moose Jaw went up by two when they added a power play goal with just over two minutes left in the period.
Justin Almeida made a pass from the left circle cross ice to Brayden Burke inside the right circle. He quickly moved the puck towards the net where Jayden Halbgewachs tucked in his WHL leading 41st goal to make it 4-2.
In the third period the Warriors added to their lead at 7:36 when Brayden Burke scored his second of the game on a shorthanded breakaway and they Ryan Peckford scored his 16th of the season at 13:32.
Red Deer pulled to within three with a 5-on-3 power play goal late in the final period but that would be as close as they would get.
Brayden Burke had two goals and three points, Ryan Peckford had a goal and two points, and Justin Almeida picked up three assists.
Moose Jaw was 1-for-5 on the power play and 4-for-6 with a shorthanded goal on the penalty kill.
The Warriors finished with 69 shots on net which is the most in franchise history in the internet era (starting in 1996-1997). The WHL record for most shots in a game is held by the 1978-1979 Brandon Wheat Kings who had 85 against the Regina pats on March 12, 1979.
Moose Jaw’s Alberta road trip continues on Friday with their final visit of the season to Scotiabank Saddledome to take on the Calgary Hitmen. Catch all the action on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart PreGame Show at 7:40pm.
