Tribe Snaps Slide With Big Win
Moose Jaw’s nine game slide came to an end Friday with a one-sided 7-1 win over the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre.
Both teams tried to play to their strengths early in the game. The Warriors fore-check won battles along the Prince Albert walls but they weren’t able to control the puck for shots. Prince Albert on the other hand relied on their transition game; they were quick up the ice and had a 13-5 advantage on the shot clock in the first period.
Moose Jaw’s power play opened the scoring at 8:37. Brayden Point won the offensive zone faceoff; Tanner Eberle pushed the puck to the point for Alexey Sleptsov for a slap shot. The puck ricocheted off a Prince Albert stick then beat goalie Cole Cheveldave.
57 seconds into the second Torrin White created a turnover at the Raider blue line. The 18-year-old drove the left faceoff dot then snapped a shot to the back of the net to make it 2-0 Moose Jaw.
Eight minutes into the middle frame the Warriors won an offensive zone draw. Kirk Johnson was able to get a quick shot from the point; Point controlled the rebounded then exploded behind the net for a wrap-around goal.
That marked the end for 20-year-old goalie Cole Cheveldave; he allowed three goals on eleven shots in 28 minutes and was replaced by 16-year-old rookie Nick McBride.
Just over a minute after the Point goal, Jack Rodewald used his big frame to drive from the right wing toward the net where he deked around the Raider goalie for his 16th of the year.
Prince Albert had plenty of chances throughout the period as they outshot the Warriors 19-11 in the second and had a 32-16 advantage after two periods. With six seconds left in the period Raiders Captain Josh Morrissey was able to find the back of the Moose Jaw net on a scramble to make it 4-1 through forty minutes.
Five minutes into the third and on the penalty kill Rodewald pressured the Raiders inside their line. Prince Albert coughed the puck up to Point who dangled his way to the net where he scored his second of the game. Two minutes later and on the power play, Tanner Eberle chipped in his 14th to make it 6-1.
Point scored his hat trick goal at 11:57 when he broke up a Raiders pass coming out of their zone. He broke in for a shot, McBride made the initial save but the Warriors 17-year-old was able to chip in the rebound.
Point finished the game with three goals and six points while goalie Justin Paulic made 39 saves. Moose Jaw was 2-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The tribe is back home Saturday for their sixth meeting of the season against the Swift Current Broncos. Catch all the action on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart PreGame Show at 6:40pm.
Moose Jaw is 2-2-1 against the Broncos, which includes a 0-1-1 home record. Swift Current has outscored the Warriors 20-12 overall and 9-5 in Moose Jaw.
Sam Fioretti leads Moose Jaw with one goal and five points; Brayden Point has two goals and four points; Jesse Forsberg and Jack Rodewald have a goal and two points each; Tanner Eberle has two assists; Ben Duperreault, Bryson Gore, and Josh Uhrich have one goal each; Justin Paulic is 2-1-1 with a 3.73gaa and .887sv%; Zach Sawchenko is 0-1 with a 4.50gaa and .833sv%.
Graham Black leads Swift Current with one goal and eight points; Colby Cave and Julius Honka have three goals and seven points each; Brycen Martin has two goals and seven points; Coda Gordon and Jay Merkley have two goals and four points each; Brett Lernout has a goal and four points; Zac Mackay has three goals; Andrew Johnson and Dillon Heatherington have three points each; Landon Bow is 3-0 with a 1.08gaa and .965sv%; Eetu Laurikainen is 0-0-0-2 with a 2.87gaa and .920sv%.
After Saturday’s game the Warriors are off until Tuesday when they host the Kootenay Ice for the first time this season. Next weekend they’ll be in Alberta for games against Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.
Moose Jaw Starters: G-Justin Paulic, D-Kirk Johnson/Spenser Jensen, LW-Torrin White, C-Bryson Gore, RW-Scott Cooke
Moose Jaw Scratches: Colton McCarthy, Sam Fioretti, Brandon Potomak, Jesse Forsberg
Prince Albert Starters: G-Cole Cheveldave, D-Tomas Andrlik/Graeme Craig, LW-Gage Quinney, C-Calder Brooks, RW-Reid Gardiner
Prince Albert Scratches: Ryan Coghlan, Jayden Hart, Darcy Zaharichuk
