By Matthew Gourlie
Adam Evanoff made a strong first impression with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The 17-year-old goalie made 40 saves in his Western Hockey League debut as he lead the Warriors to a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings Thursday night.
Evanoff’s first star performance was arguably the best by a Warriors debutant goalie since Joey Perricone’s 46-save shutout effort in his 2003 debut in Prince George.
“It’s a pretty special feeling. The first one is a big one, so I’ll remember this forever,” Evanoff said.
Evanoff had to make some unorthodox saves early, but he was highly effective and made some big saves as key times to preserve the Moose Jaw lead.
“It’s a lot faster pace and there’s more traffic. That’s probably the biggest thing,” Evanoff said.
He was told more than a week ago that they were giving him the start. That gave him time to prepare with goalie coach Matt Weninger.
“I got great coaching in practice, so I felt confident going into it,” Evanoff said. “I have to be ready for every game, because you never know when you could go in there. I tried to treat it like any other game.”
Not many goalies get peppered the way Evanoff was in his debut. In recent Warriors history, Justin Paulic and Zach Sawchenko each also allowed one goal in winning their WHL debuts, but neither goalie faced 30 shots.
With Brody Willms entrenched as the Warriors starter, Evanoff knows he will have to be patient between starts. And that suits him just fine.
“I have to be there for Brody,” Evanoff said. “I wouldn’t say it’s tough. I know I have to pay my dues. Everybody is at this point in their career at some time where they have to wait. Brody’s been great. He cheers me on when I’m in there and I cheer him on when he’s in.”
Noah Gregor staked the Warriors to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, but Evanoff was forced to make seven saves in the first three minutes of the second period to preserve the lead.
Tanner Jeannot made a head’s up play to flip a backhanded clearance towards the penalty box at the end of a penalty kill to spring Oleg Sosunov for a breakaway. The Russian defenceman roofed his fourth of the year to double the Moose Jaw lead.
Gregor’s fifth of the season came on another breakaway and the Warriors led 3-0.
Evanoff’s shutout bid ended when Colton Kehler’s pass from the side of the net went off of Evanoff’s arm and in.
There was nothing Evanoff could do about Kobe Mohr’s goal as he was all alone at the side of the net and roofed his third goal of the season to get Edmonton to within 3-2.
“I thought we carried the play for pretty much all of the third period. We came out with a lot of fire and intensity after going behind by a few,” said Kehler who had two points. “We can’t be spotting teams with offence like this two- or three-goal leads. As long as we find the fire and urgency to start the game, I think we can be as dominant as any team in the league.”
Travis Child made 28 saves and made some key stops to keep the game close for the Oil Kings.
“He’s been huge all year. He’s proven that he can win teams games in this league,” Kehler said. “We gave up three breakaways in the second period and they scored on two of them. We can’t ask much more of Trav. He’s been our backbone and he’s keeping us in games.”
Tanner Jeannot scored with 2:43 left to restore the Warriors’ two-goal lead and quell the Oil Kings comeback.
The Warriors improved to 6-1 on the season. While their record speaks for itself, the team still feels they have another level that they can reach.
“There’s definitely some things to work on. It was a bit of a sloppy game on our part,” said Gregor who had a three-point night. “We capitalized on some chances and came away with the win.
“We’re there, but we know we have another level. We have some guys in here, including myself, who can step up a little more. Once we do that we’re going to be a much better team.”
Gregor said their work in practice will help them get to where they want to be. They’re looking to keep their work ethic up and also make sure they’re getting to the front of the net to try to elevate their game.
Brayden Burke had three assists and the Warriors welcomed Colin Paradis back in the lineup and he finished as a plus-two.
Saturday, Edmonton is in Swift Current while the Warriors will host Vancouver.
