WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Focused Heading into Game 7 against Blades

May 7, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Saskatoon, SK - A fitting end to an incredible series, the Moose Jaw Warriors and Saskatoon Blades will meet for Game 7 of the 2024 WHL Eastern Conference Championship, presented by Nutrien.

The deciding game of the series will go on Tuesday night at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

"In playoffs there's ups and downs and this series has been the definition of that," Warriors forward Jagger Firkus said. "Going into tonight, we've been to five overtimes, so we know that it won't be an easy game to come out of and it's just exciting going into Game 7."

The Warriors extend their season with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win in Game 6 on Sunday afternoon as Lynden Lakovic lifted home his second overtime winner of the playoffs.

Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said that game was filled with emotions.

"It was up and down for sure," he said. "I thought we played a really good game in the early going and then I think we got a little bit hesitant, we were a little bit off on our forecheck and gave up a bit too much, but they were there again in the end and we just stuck with it."

Five of the six games so far in the series have needed overtime to decide the outcome, tying a Western Hockey League record for most overtime games in one series.

While the Blades experienced two Game 7s during last year's playoffs, this will be the first Game 7 for most of the Warriors' roster.

"I'm sure there will be nerves, not quite right now, but I'm sure once warmup goes, there will be some going on," Firkus said.

O'Leary said the team will need to stay in the moment.

"The message is, nothing has changed from Game 6 to Game 7 for us, it's just a game that we have to win," he said. "There's a lot of hype about what Game 7 is and what it means, but that's more something you can look back on in the summertime and say that was a big moment.

"We're going into each and every game, the same way we always do, we just need to win this game by playing the right way."

Going into Game 7, the Warriors know their path to success will be getting shots through onto Evan Gardner and searching for rebounds.

"Saskatoon does whatever it takes to block shots and they're really good at it, that's the biggest thing is trying to get pucks through and crash the net," Firkus said. "You look at Kovacevic's tying goal [in Game 6], it was just a simple shot and we had bodies in front and it went in."

The Warriors and Blades face-off for Game 7 at 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre. The winner will advance to the WHL Championship Series against the Portland Winterhawks.

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