WHL Roundup: Halbgewachs lifts Warriors over Oil Kings in overtime
Moose Jaw Warriors (4) at Edmonton Oil Kings (3) — OT
Moose Jaw (23-5-1-1) // Edmonton (6-19-3-0)
Moose Jaw Warriors forward Jayden Halbgewachs toyed with the heart string of Edmonton Oil Kings fans Thursday in the lone game on the WHL schedule.
After the Oil Kings mounted a third period comeback to force overtime, Halbgewachs scored 26 seconds into the extra period to extend their unbeaten in regulation streak to nine games, with a 7-0-1-1 record in that time frame.
Brett Kemp opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period, giving the Oil Kings the lead after 20 minutes. The Warriors would battle back in the second though, with goals from Halbgewachs and Barrett Sheen’s fourth goal of the season.
Noah Gregor (San Jose Sharks) scored 40 seconds into the third, but the Oil Kings weren’t ready to be written off so early.
Tomas Soustal scored 29 seconds later to cut the deficit back to a goal and Oil Kings captain Colton Kehler tied up the game with his 10th of the season on the power play with 3:34 to go in the third.
It would all be for naught though, as Halbgewachs notched his second of the game shortly into the extra period to capture another crucial points for the Eastern Conference-leading Warriors. The win helped the Warriors open up a six-point lead on the Swift Current Broncos for both the conference and divisional lead.
Halbgewachs is now one goal shy of back-to-back 30-goal seasons and is well on his way to eclipsing his 50-goal campaign last season. Justin Almeida picked up a pair of assists in the game to give him five multi-point efforts in his last eight contests. Josh Brook (Montreal Canadiens) recorded his third assist in five games since returning from injury in late November.
The impressive rookie play of goaltender Adam Evanoff continued Thursday as he made 31 saves on 34 shots to improve to 6-0-0-0 on the season. Travis Child took the loss while making 33 saves on 37 shots.
🚨 The magic man Jayden Halbgewachs (@halbgewachs97) strikes 26 seconds into OT and the Warriors win 4-3 over the Oil Kings pic.twitter.com/J9RG3Agk51
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) December 8, 2017