Weekend opens with win over Calgary
Special teams was key for the Moose Jaw Warriors Friday against the Calgary Hitmen as three power play goals lifted them to a 5-2 win at Mosaic Place.
Approaching the eight minute mark of the first period the line of Branden Klatt, Tate Popple, and Tyler Smithies had the Hitmen pinned inside their zone.
Popple took the puck off the Calgary right wall and skated hard towards the net. He let a show go from inside the circle that beat Nick Schneider for his 1st WHL goal. 17-year-old rookie Tyler Smithies picked up an assist on the goal which was his 1st WHL point.
Seven minutes later on the power play at 14:06 the Warriors moved the puck around the Calgary zone. Brayden Burke made a hard pass from the right circle to the top of the left crease where Luka Burzan directed in his 3rd goal of the season.
Goalies Adam Evanoff and Nick Schneider were very busy in the opening period as they teams had 15 shots each. Evanoff made several key saves including one on a Luke Coleman shorthanded breakaway, while Schneider kept his team close with a number of big saves.
Calgary got on to the scoreboard two minutes in to the second period when Luke Coleman scored a power play goal. Then five minutes in to the period they tied the game at two when Mark Kastelic tipped the puck in on a goal mouth scramble.
Moose Jaw was a determined team in the second half of the middle period and when they were put on the power play they capitalized.
At 13:56 Brayden Burke made a tape-to-tape pass from the right circle to Noah Gregor inside the left circle. Gregor’s quick shot beat Schneider to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead.
Under two minutes later the Warriors were back on the power play and Brayden Burke went back to work. Oleg Sosunov broke up a Hitmen clearing attempt, the puck ricocheted from the right boards to Burke at the top of the left circle. Burke then quickly tossed the puck to the Tanner Jeannot driving the net where he scored his 13th goal of the season to give Moose Jaw their second two-goal lead in the game.
Throughout the third period the Hitmen tried desperately to get back in the game. They outshot the Warriors 16-7 in the final period and 40-34 overall but weren’t able to mount a comeback as Jayden Halbgewachs scored with just over two minutes left in regulation to put the game away.
Brayden Burke had three assists to reach the 200 career milestone, Luka Burzan finished with a goal and two points, Chase Hartje had two assists, and Adam Evanoff made 38 saves.
Special teams had a big impact in the game as the Warriors went 3-for-5 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Moose Jaw wraps up a 4-game in 5-day schedule at home Saturday with their second meeting of the week against the Saskatoon Blades, on Wednesday in the Bridge City the Blades narrowly beat the Warriors 5-4. Catch all of the action on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart PreGame Show at 6:40pm.
