Tigers Bite Warriors
Medicine Hat scored four goals in just over four minutes in the second period and went on to hand the Moose Jaw Warriors a rough 6-0 loss Friday at Mosaic Place.
Moose Jaw outshot Medicine Hat 5-1 to start the game but the Tigers made their lone shot count. Curtis Valk forced a loose puck in the Warriors zone; it trickled to Cole Sanford inside the left circle. He made a quick pass to Trevor Cox streaking between the circles for s snapshot that beat Zach Sawchenko.
The Warriors were given three power plays in the opening frame which helped them to create chances, they had an 11-6 advantage on the shot clock, but they weren’t able to slide the puck into the back of the net and went into the intermission down a goal.
Medicine Hat used their speed to ignite their transition game early in the second as they attacked the Moose Jaw zone which resulted in four goals in just over four minutes.
At 1:05 Cole Sanford gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead; Chad Butcher made it 3-0 at 3:12; Medicine Hat made it 4-0 on a goal from Curtis Valk at the five minute mark; twenty one seconds later Butcher scored his second of the period finish of the flurry.
Medicine Hat was able to score four goals on six shots to start the period, it also spelt the end for Warriors starting goalie Zach Sawchenko who allowed five goals on 12 shots in just over 25 minutes of play.
Justin Paulic came into the game and the Tigers came right at him. With Medicine Hat on the power play Miles Koules drove down the Warriors right wall then cut to the net along the goal line where he scored a highlight reel goal.
The visitors outshot the tribe 14-7 in the second period and took a comfortable 6-0 lead into the second intermission.
Medicine Hat continued to press in the third; they outshot the Warriors 14-6 in the frame but weren’t able to add to their lead and went on to the one-sided win.
Justin Paulic came in in the second period for the Warriors and made 21 saves on 22 shots in the second half of the game. Trevor Cox and Cole Sanford had a goal and three points, Chad Butcher had two goals, and Marek Langhamer made 24 saves for the shutout.
The tribe was 0-for-3 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.
Moose Jaw’s weekend continues Saturday when they head to Brandon for their final meeting of the regular season against the Wheat Kings. The Warriors are 0-5-1-1 against Brandon; they went 0-3-1 at home and 0-2-0-1 on the road. Of the seven games; two have been decided by one goal, two have been decided by two goals, two have been decided by three goals, and one has been decided by four goals.
Brandon outscored the Warriors 20-10 at games played in Moose Jaw, 10-4 in games played in Brandon, and 30-14 overall. Last season the Warriors were 3-4-0-1, in the last five years they are 15-18-2-4 against the Wheat Kings.
Sam Fioretti leads the Warriors with two goals and five points; Tanner Eberle has three goals and four points; Brayden Point, Jack Rodewald, and Torrin White have two goals and three points each; Bryson Gore has a goal and two points; Jesse Forsberg and Alexey Sleptsov have two assists each; Zach Sawchenko is 0-1 with a 2.57gaa and .897sv%; Justin Paulic is 0-4-1-1 with a 3.92gaa and .887sv%.
John Quenneville leads Brandon with five goals and nine points; Eric Roy has one goal and nine points; Jayce Hawryluk has three goals and seven points; Chad Robinson has two goals and seven points; Quintin Lisoway and Jens Meilleur have two goals and four points each; Brett Kitt and Rene Hunter have four points each; Tyler Coulter, Ryan Pulock, and Braylon Shmyr have three points each; Curtis Honey is 5-0 with a 1.77gaa and .947sv%; Jordan Papirny is 2-0 with a 2.50gaa and .926sv%.
Catch all the action on Country 100, James Gallo is live from Westman Place with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart PreGame Show at 7:10pm.
Moose Jaw Starters: G-Zach Sawchenko, D-Alexey Sleptsov & Dallas Valentine, LW-Tanner Eberle, C-Colton McCarthy, RW-Sam Fioretti
Moose Jaw Scratches: Brandon Potomak, Alexander Chirva
Medicine Hat Starters: G-Marek Langhamer, D-Kyle Becker & Dylan Bredo, LW-Miles Koules, C-Anthony Ast, RW-Markus Eisenschmid
Medicine Hat Scratches: Hunter Shinkaruk, Tommy Vannelli, Ty Stanton, Gavin Broadhead
Medicine Hat Addition: Connor Hobbs, D, AP, DOB: 1997
