Warriors Set to Battle Giants Saturday Night
January 13, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release
Moose Jaw, SK - A key word for the Moose Jaw Warriors heading into the second half was consistency.
Coming off one of their most complete performances of the season in a shutout win over Victoria on Wednesday, the Warriors will look to build off that heading into a match-up with the Vancouver Giants.
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"From start to finish, we played a really good game, we shut them down and at the same time, we were making sure we were creating a lot of offensive chances," Warriors forward Jagger Firkus said.
Carrying over that play into Saturday night's battle with the Giants will be key.
Firkus said the Warriors focused on controlling the puck in Wednesday's win.
"If you have the puck on your stick, you're a lot more dangerous and you can make plays with it," he said. "You want to make sure you have puck possession and that's one big thing [head coach Mark O'Leary] was telling us, we had a lot of that in Wednesday night's game and it showed."
While the Warriors were able to dictate the game by controlling the puck, Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said the team's play without the puck was key as well.
"It was a real good night there, in terms of just being inside first, whether it was our forecheck, our tracking, d-zone coverage, we spent a lot of time with the puck and it had everything to do with our effort level to get pucks back fast," he said.
Saturday will mark the debut of star forward Matthew Savoie with the Warriors.
O'Leary said he brings another dynamic to the Warriors' lineup.
"He fits right into our mold, we know he's got all kinds of skill, he's got world class talent and offensive abilities, but his effort, his compete level without the puck is exactly what we're looking for," he said.
Firkus said the locker room is excited about what's in store with Savoie in the lineup.
"He's a big piece, especially for the run that we hope to make, he's a big part of it and now that he's here and ready to go, it will be exciting moving forward," he said.
The Giants enter Saturday's game after winning 4-2 in Regina on Friday night and have posted a 3-1 record so far on their East Division road trip.
O'Leary said they will be tested by Vancouver.
"They're playing some good hockey," he said. "Their backend is rugged, they're big and they play hard, we expect a real hard game and we'll need to be ready."
The Warriors and Giants face-off at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
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