Warriors Edge Wheat Kings In Overtime
Old rivals collided Wednesday in Brandon, in a heated emotional game the Moose Jaw Warriors got two goals and three points from Nikita Popugaev in a 3-2 overtime win over the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Warriors and Wheat Kings were able to establish a quick pace to the hockey game. Both transitioned well up the ice looking for opportunities off the rush and they combined for 25 shots in the opening period.
Brandon opened the scoring nine and a half minutes in to the game, Jordan Wharrie moved the puck from the blueline to Tyler Coulter inside the left circle, he then made a quick hard pass cross-ice to Reid Duke in the right circle where he put a shot past Brody Willms.
Seven and a half minutes in to the second period the Wheat Kings were able to force a turnover in the Moose Jaw zone which resulted in another Reid Duke goal to extend Brandon’s lead.
Moose Jaw was quick to respond, 32 seconds later defenseman Ryan Gardiner tossed the puck to the Brandon net. Dakota Odgers was able to get a shot off the pads of goalie Logan Thompson, Nikita Popugaev picked up the rebound and scored his tenth of the season.
The second half of the second period was filled with emotion as the Warriors and Wheat Kings were involved in several after whistle scrums which resulted in two Warriors power plays.
Moose Jaw wasn’t able to convert on the man-advantage but with 53 seconds left in the period Ryan Bowen took a pass in-between the circles and then slid the puck to Brayden Watts at the bottom of the left circle where he lifted a shot to the back of the net for his second of the season which tied the game at two.
In the third period the Warriors received a four-minute power play early but weren’t able to capitalize and the game remained tied.
As the final frame continued both teams pressed for a game winning goal, they combined for 18 shots but goalies Brody Willms and Logan Thompson were sharp as they kept the game tied and eventually forced overtime.
2:13 in to the extra period Nikita Popugaev spun away from the Wheat Kings man-coverage inside the right circle. Popugaev snapped a shot far-side over the blocker of Thompson for his second of the game propelling the Warriors to the win.
Moose Jaw outshot Brandon 40-30, they were 0-for-7 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Warriors have Thursday off to prepare for a pair of home games coming up on the weekend, Friday the Edmonton Oil Kings come to town for the final time this season and then on Saturday the Seattle Thunderbirds are in town for their only meeting of the year against the Warriors. Both games can be heard on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart PreGame Show at 6:40pm.
