WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Knock off Blades in Saskatoon

Published on October 25, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Saskatoon, SK - The Moose Jaw Warriors struck the first blow against the Saskatoon Blades this season.

Pavel McKenzie scored with eight minutes left in the third period to help the Warriors to a 3-1 win over the Blades on Tuesday night.

"Saskatoon is the benchmark right now in the conference, they're the top team and they're a good team for a reason, so for us, we were prepared, ready to come in here, knew it was going to be a battle and we're proud of our group for the way that they performed," Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said.

The win moves the Warriors into a tie with the Blades for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Jackson Unger made 32 saves to backstop Moose Jaw to the victory, while Jagger Firkus finished with a goal and three points on the night.

"The first period was a little bit back-and-forth, we had chances, just trading chances with them, and then by the second period, we really started to sink in and play the game that we wanted to play," Pereverzoff said.

"We didn't have the most shots, but we had some quality looks tonight and obviously that got the job done there."

After a back-and-forth start to the game, the Warriors swung momentum in their favour by killing off a five-on-three power play for the Blades midway through the opening frame.

"Jackson was our best player, especially early killing that five-on-three," Pereverzoff said. "The last two games, Jackson's been real good for us and we expect him to continue to do so."

Atley Calvert opened the scoring with a power play goal in the final minute of the first period.

The game was tied at 1-1 after two thanks to a goal from Saskatoon's Egor Sidorov early in the second period.

The Warriors pressured the Blades throughout the third period and finally broke through when Firkus found McKenzie alone in front. The rookie forward made no mistake, scoring his first Western Hockey League goal to make it 2-1 with 8:02 to play.

Firkus fired the puck into the empty net with 1:10 left in the third period to seal the win.

"The big picture is that we're getting wins when we need to, proud of the group for stepping up again after two tough losses in games that we felt we should have performed a little bit better and the guys held themselves accountable and they did just that," Pereverzoff said.

"They should feel confident and they've been preparing well and we just have to keep that rolling."

The Warriors will hit the road again on Thursday when they travel to Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings.

Moose Jaw's busy week continues on at home on the weekend when they host Prince George on Saturday and Prince Albert on Sunday.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from October 25, 2023


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