Warriors Ready for Battle on Home Ice in Game 3
April 18, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release
Moose Jaw, SK - After two hard fought games in Winnipeg, the Moose Jaw Warriors' second round series with the ICE shifts to the Hangar for the next two games.
"It will be huge, we love playing in this barn, the fans are great and hopefully they'll be cheering really loud," Warriors forward Brayden Yager said.
The Warriors went into Winnipeg and earned a split the first two games, falling 5-3 in Game 1 before pulling out a 5-3 win of their own in Game 2.
Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said it's good the team was able to get the split, but it's a fresh start for Game 3.
"It's real important now that we got it, if we didn't win one on the road, we'd be looking forward to having two games at home, but getting that split is good for the confidence level and obviously we have ourselves a series," he said.
Both games in Winnipeg were face-paced and physical as neither team wanted to give up an inch to the opposition.
Yager said the Warriors are pleased with how they played in both games.
"I thought game one, we played pretty well, we just hurt ourselves a bit at the end and didn't have the third period that we wanted, but when we were down three goals and came back, that gave us a lot of confidence," he said. "We just focused on the positives going into game two and we did a really good job."
The Warriors fell behind early in game one and had to fight their way back to tie the game, but in game two, the team came out of the gates flying, scoring four times in the first ten minutes to take control.
"Our response from game one to game two was great," O'Leary said. "Our start was really good, special teams won us the game in game two, so it's concentrating on the positives and trying to replicate that and just being honest in what we can do to be a little bit better."
Yager scored three goals in the first two games and is riding a four-game goal streak. He has five goals and 10 points in six games so far in the playoffs.
Yager said he's just focused on shooting more.
"That's one thing that the coaches told me to do a little bit more of, just putting pucks on net, especially on the road," he said. "So just using my shot more and they've been going, which is nice."
After heading into hostile territory for the first two games of the series, the Warriors are looking forward to being back in front of the home crowd for games three and four.
"It's going to be real important," O'Leary said. "Every team likes playing at home a little bit more and there's a little bit more juice in the building, so looking forward to the challenge here."
The Warriors and ICE meet for games three and four at the Moose Jaw Events Centre over the next two nights. Puck drops at 7 p.m. both nights.
Tickets for the game are still available at mjwarriors.ca or the MJEC box office.
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