WHL Playoffs Top Performer: April 13, 2024

Moose Jaw may be known as the Friendly City, but Warriors Captain Denton Mateychuk ensured the Moose Jaw Events Centre was one unhospitable space in a 7-2 drubbing of the Swift Current Broncos.

The Warriors Captain racked up a goal, five assists and a +4 rating as Moose Jaw stormed back to tie their semifinal series at one win each.

After the visiting Broncos jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first frame, Mateychuk sprung his teammates Ethan Semeniuk and Brayden Yager for a shorthanded two-on-one opportunity, which Yager buried to tie the game.

Mateychuk would snag another secondary assist as the Warriors cycled the puck on the powerplay shortly afterward, with Yager banging home his second of the evening.

The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect got on the other side of the scoresheet by flying off the bench and into the offensive zone, picking up the puck and wiring it past Reid Dyck for his third goal of the postseason.

Did someone turn up the heat in here?

Denton Mateychuk nets his third goal of the playoffs less than a minute after Yager extended the Warriors lead!#CBJ | #WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingtheFuture pic.twitter.com/hdHslTMp8C

— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 14, 2024

Mateychuk would add another trio of assists to cap off a monstrous run that saw Moose Jaw score six times in under 12 minutes.

The 5-foot-11, 191-pound blueliner was one point away from tying the WHL record for most points by a defenceman in a single game.

Former Kamloops Blazers blueliners Dylan Sydor and Olen Zellweger share the current record of seven.

Mateychuk has three goals and 11 assists through six playoff games, leading all WHL skaters in points with 14 and sitting third with a +9 rating.

The series now shifts to Swift Current, where the Warriors will try to grab their first series lead in Game 3.

Puck drops at the InnovationPlex at 7:00 p.m. ST on Tuesday, April 16.