Warriors Battle Hurricanes in Lethbridge
April 15, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Moose Jaw Warriors need just one more point to secure home ice advantage in the first round of the 2022 WHL Playoffs.
The team will head into Lethbridge on Friday night looking to finish the job.
"We've worked hard all season long to get to this point and now we just have to push it over the edge," Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said.
"It's a good situation in the end that we control what happens from here, but most importantly it's about just making sure our game is where it needs to be for next Friday."
As much as the Warriors want to lock up home ice advantage, Defenceman Denton Mateychuk said the team is focused on gaining momentum for the start of playoffs next week.
"It definitely would be nice to be here at Mosaic Place for the first two games, but we want to also go into the playoffs with two big wins and go in with some confidence."
The Hurricanes stand in between the Warriors and their goal.
Lethbridge has been a tough matchup for Moose Jaw this season. The Warriors have a 2-2-0-1 record against the Hurricanes, including losses in their last three meetings.
"They've given us a bit of trouble this year," Mateychuk said. "They play physical, they forecheck and back check hard, so we've just got to do the same thing, work hard and don't give them extra space."
The Warriors are coming off a big bounce back win over Brandon, beating the Wheat Kings 5-2 on Tuesday after losing to them in a shootout last Saturday.
O'Leary said the Warriors played good in both games, but did a better job of capitalizing in Tuesday's win.
"Both games, we had stretches where we looked like the team that we want to be," he said.
Going into Lethbridge, O'Leary said playing with speed will be the answer against the strong defensive play from the Hurricanes.
"They've been real good games against Lethbridge all season long, so we know they check hard, they're on top of you in a hurry, so we need to make sure that we're moving pucks quick and we need to have numbers around the puck."
The Warriors and Hurricanes square off at 7 p.m. on Friday night from the ENMAX Centre.
Tune into all the action with Voice of the Warriors James Gallo on Country 100, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:40 p.m.
Following Friday's game, the Warriors will finish the regular season with a Trans-Canada Clash against the Pats in Regina on Sunday afternoon.
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