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WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Roll over Hitmen in 8-2 Victory

January 20, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Cordel Larson couldn't have made a better first impression in Moose Jaw.

Larson scored twice and finished with three points in an 8-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday night at Mosaic Place.

"It was awesome," Larson said after the game. "The guys came out firing, had a good connection with that line right away, we got in on the forecheck really hard and we're able to create a lot of turnovers."

The 20-year-old forward was acquired by the Warriors at the WHL Trade Deadline on Monday, he arrived in the Friendly City on Tuesday and made his debut on Wednesday night.

"We're really happy to have him, he's a good kid, hardworking kid, for him to get two goals, I'm sure he's feeling good about it and it's definitely a great start to his first game as a Moose Jaw Warrior," Assistant coach Gord Burnett said.

The win snapped a two-game slide for the Warriors and moved them back into a tie with Brandon and Saskatoon for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Burnett said the Warriors had all four lines and seven defencemen clicking right from the opening puck drop.

"It's easy when everyone's playing and you can roll all four lines and all seven D," he said.

"That's probably the best game we've played since I've been here, everyone played well, everyone was moving, we were moving the puck, our passing execution was as good as I've seen... the tempo was high and went almost all 60 minutes."

The Warriors jumped on the Hitmen early in the game when Jagger Firkus scored his team-leading 22nd of the season just 2:21 into the first period.

Just 1:12 later, Larson and Riley Niven caused a turnover with a hard forecheck and Niven buried his second of the season to make it 2-0 after one.

Moose Jaw took over in the second period, outshooting Calgary 23-8 in the frame and scoring four times.

Firkus picked up his second of the night with a great shot just 2:26 into the middle frame.

Max Wanner fired in a wrist shot for his third of the season only 3:31 after that to put the Warriors in front 4-0.

Just 12 seconds later, Lucas Brenton scored his second of the season to make it a five-goal lead for the Warriors.

Larson picked up his first as a Warrior and sixth of the season midway through the period to make it a 6-0 advantage for Moose Jaw.

Calgary got on the board in the final minute of the second when Riley Fiddler-Schultz scored on the power play.

Midway through the third period, the Hitmen cut the Warriors lead to four when Grayden Siepmann scored to make it 6-2.

The Warriors answered right back with Ryder Korczak scoring his 13th of the season less than a minute later to restore the five-goal lead.

Larson added his second of the night and seventh of the year with just four seconds to play to give Moose Jaw an 8-2 win.

It's the largest margin of victory this season for the Warriors and their first win over Calgary in the past ten meetings.

Firkus finished with two goals and three points to move into the team-lead with 44 points this season. His 23 goals are also tied for fourth in the WHL, just two behind the league lead.

Daemon Hunt, Atley Calvert, Nathan Pilling and Cole Jordan had two assists each in the win.

Carl Tetachuk turned away 18 shots in net, while Moose Jaw outshot Calgary 44-20 overall in the game.

The Warriors were 1-for-4 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

The Warriors are off now until Saturday when they open a three-game Alberta road trip in Red Deer. Moose Jaw will have a rematch with Calgary on Sunday and then finish up the trip in Edmonton on Tuesday.

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2022


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