Warriors Host Edmonton on Wednesday Night
February 8, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release
The Moose Jaw Warriors are back home at the Hangar on Wednesday night after a successful road trip to Alberta last week.
After dropping the opening game of the trek in Lethbridge, Moose Jaw bounce back and finished the road trip with back-to-back wins, knocking off Edmonton on Friday and winning in Calgary on Sunday.
"The first game against Lethbridge left a little bit on the table and made us hungry for the next two," Warriors captain Denton Mateychyuk said.
Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said Moose Jaw's possession game was strong in all three games, which is something the team can continue to build off.
"I would still like to see us shoot the puck a little bit more, but all in all, we're doing something right when we have the puck as much as we do," he said.
O'Leary said the loss to the Hurricanes was a tough start to the road trip, but how the team was able to reset and finish strong with back-to-back wins was key.
"Whether it's at home or on the road, it's really important, and that's not just game-to-game, but within the game as well," he said. "There's going to be times where you get scored on and it's how you rebound from that."
Now the Warriors return home to host the Oil Kings in the final meeting between the two sides this season. Moose Jaw is 2-1 against Edmonton after Friday's 4-1 win at Rogers Place.
Mateychuk said the Warriors need to continue to focus on their checking.
"When we're not playing at our best, that's the main factor," he said.
"We just need to play our game, keep it simple, don't overcomplicate things and just go out there and do that for 60 minutes and we'll have a good outcome."
Going into Wednesday's game, O'Leary said he wants to see the Warriors make a point of putting more pucks on net.
"The last two times we've played Edmonton, we've been a little bit too cute and we've passed up some real good scoring opportunities," he said. "I'd like to see us play off the shot more and trust our first look when it's there."
The Warriors and Oil Kings go head-to-head on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
For season ticket holders, it's rain check night, which means you can redeem any unused tickets from this season for free bowl tickets to the game.
If you can't make it to the rink, tune in on Country 100 and WHL Live, starting with the IKS Media Warriors Live Pre-Game Show on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube at 6:45 p.m.
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