By Matthew Gourlie
Justin Almeida and the Moose Jaw Warriors were not going to be denied.
After forcing a turnover at his own blue line, the Warriors sniper kicked into high gear. Almeida fought off the check of Max Martin to slip a puck through the legs of Prince Albert Raiders goalie Ian Scott to win Game 2 in overtime. The win levels their best-of-seven Western Hockey League opening round series 1-1 as the series shifts to Prince Albert Tuesday for Game 3.
“It was the end of a long shift and the guy turned it over onto my stick and I saw a lane and I knew I had to skate fast,” said Almeida. “I knew if I could spread him out the five-hole would probably open up, but there was a guy right there and I was pretty much right on the goalie when I shot it.”
Warrior Goal 3 by #8 Justin Almeida OT Winner Brought to you by: https://t.co/tInkAvN33o via @YouTube
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) March 25, 2018
While the Raiders stole home ice and put together two strong games, the Warriors are hoping to build off of an emotional win as they hit the road.
“We lost Game 1 and that was pretty devastating, so this is huge,” Almeida said. “We knew we needed the split and we got it here and everyone’s mood gets lifted. We know we need to work on. We just need to focus on Game 3 now.”
Brody Willms made 28 saves in the Moose Jaw goal in a strong bounce-back performance. Jayden Halbgewachs had two assists and Josh Brook was a plus-three.
“Right from Brody on out we had a real good response,” said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter. “I knew we would play a lot better — and we did — but we’re still far from playing the way we’re capable. There are still some guys who need to be dragged into the fight here.”
Hunter felt it wasn’t a matter of attitude, merely that some players are still figuring out what it takes to succeed during playoff hockey.
“It’s a whole different game in the playoffs,” Hunter said. “It takes awhile for guys to figure out how hard it is to play, how hard you have to compete and how urgent you have to play. It’s not something where you turn on a switch and now I’m in playoff mode. There are parts of the season that you coach them through, where you push them and try to make them uncomfortable to get in this mode, but until you drop the puck…”
Warriors captain Brett Howden scored with 1:05 left in the first after Scott couldn’t handle a Tanner Jeannot shot. Howden then scored his second 11 seconds into the second period to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
The Raiders didn’t relent and Sean Montgomery got them on the board before Vojtech Budik’s power play point shot found the top corner through a screen 4:49 into the third to tie the game.
“Tonight was a tough loss. We came out slow and showed good character to battle our way back,” said Raiders veteran Parker Kelly. “In overtime it was kind of an unlucky play and it ended up in the back of our net, but all of the odds were against us this weekend. Getting a win here was huge. We needed to steal one on the road and we got one. So we’re not thinking about the end of this one too much, we’re already moving on to Tuesday.”
Almeida’s winner came 7:30 into overtime. Almeida scored the game-winning goal in the Warriors last playoff win as well — Game 6 in Swift Current last season. It was the Warriors first post-season overtime win since Brayden Point won the series winner in Medicine Hat in 2012.
Scott made 38 saves for the Raiders.
Prince Albert was 1-for-5 on the power play and the Warriors were 0-for-3. The Warriors took some undisciplined penalties and it nearly cost them.
“We took too many penalties tonight,” Hunter said. “The extra pushes and punches — the feel-good penalties. Clague and Howden, it’s just not good enough. We’ll learn from it and that’s the good thing about when win, the lessons are easier to learn and it’s not as painful.”
