WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Edged in OT by Rockets; Mateychuk Scores First WHL Goal

Published on December 14, 2019 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Saturday was filled with plenty of momentum shifts as the Moose Jaw Warriors and Kelowna Rockets battled back and forth at Mosaic Place.  Unfortunately, the Warriors came up just short, falling 5-4 in overtime to the Memorial Cup hosts.

A night after a hard loss, the Warriors came out with a fire in their belly as they came hard and pressured the Rockets throughout the opening period.

Moose Jaw had the early opportunities, but it was the Rockets who were rewarded first when Alex Swetlikoff scored a power-play goal at 6:07.

It did not take long for the Warriors to respond, just over a minute later, Kobe Mohr created a turnover in the Kelowna zone and then skated the puck to the low left circle where he ripped a shot over Roman Basran to tie the game at one.

Kelowna took a penalty shortly after the Warriors' first goal, and they were able to pick up a Brayden Tracey goal 59 seconds later to take a 2-1 lead.

Both teams kept the energy high in the second period but neither was able to add to their goal total and the Warriors took a one-goal lead into the third period.

Kelowna picked up an early power-play in the third period, five minutes into the frame the tied the game at three on a goal from Michael Farren.

Moose Jaw took the lead again when 15-year-old Denton Mateychuk joined a rush up the ice and took a pass from Ryder Korczak and snapped in his first WHL goal.

Less than three minutes later and with the Warriors back on the power-play, Rockets veteran defenceman Kaedan Korczak jumped on a loose puck and rushed the ice where he finished with a shorthanded goal to tie the game at three.

The teams kept exchanging opportunities, at 13:39 Ryder Korczak came down the Kelowna right boards and snuck the puck past the Rockets goalie, scoring his first goal since November 16th, giving Moose Jaw the lead.

Kelowna came fighting back just under two minutes later when rookie import forward Pavel Novak tipped in another game-tying.

The rest of regulation solved nothing which led to an overtime period.

Kelowna won the opening faceoff and attacked quickly setting up several looks towards the Moose Jaw net.  They finished the game 31 seconds into the extra period when Kaedan Korczak scored his second goal.

Ryder Korczak led the Warriors with a goal and three points while his brother Kaeden led the Rockets with two goals.

Moose Jaw finished 1-for-5 on the power-play while the Rockets were 2-for-7.

The Warriors go into the Christmas break with a 10-17-2 record.  Ryder Korczak leads the team with 28 assists and 37 points, Anaheim Ducks 2019 1st round pick Brayden Tracey has 13 goals and 33 points, and Captain Owen Hardy leads the team with 16 goals and is third in team scoring with 21 points.

16-year-old Eric Alarie leads the Warriors first-year players with ten points, and Libor Zabransky and Daemon Hunt have 11 points each and are tied for the team's highest-scoring defenceman.

Goaltender Adam Evanoff goes into the break playing in 16 straight games, he has a 4-9-1 record with a 3.81gaa and a .899sv%.

The Warriors return to action on Friday, December 27th when they take on the Regina Pats at Mosaic Place in the first game of a home-and-home series.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 14, 2019


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