Power play production propels Warriors to win

By Matthew Gourlie

The Moose Jaw Warriors scored two power-play goals 1:21 apart to propel them to a 5-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen Friday at Mosaic Place.

For the second time in three games, the short-staffed Warriors used their power play as a catalyst to a win. Moose Jaw was 3-for-5 on the man advantage and the game swung on the special teams in the second period.

“It was nice to get some passes and a couple of goals to kind of loosen up the hands a little bit out there,” said Moose Jaw’s Brayden Burke who set up all three power-play goals with some pin-point passing and notched his 200th career assist.

Brayden Burke

The Warriors (17-5) have now won seven of their last nine games and will host Saskatoon Saturday. The Hitmen (6-13-3-0) will conclude their five-game road trip Saturday in Swift Current.

Moose Jaw’s Noah Gregor took a hooking penalty deep in the Calgary zone and 18 seconds after he got out of the box he took a tripping penalty in a 2-2 game. The Hitmen had all of the momentum and had just scored twice, but only managed one shot on goal during those two power plays.

When Gregor was freed from the box for a second time, he came out with a point to prove and drew a penalty after making a darting rush from behind his own net, deep into the Hitmen zone.

Gregor scored the game-winning goal 28 seconds into the subsequent power play and the Warriors drew another penalty nine seconds later and Tanner Jeannot scored his 13th of the season to give the Warriors a 4-2 lead.

“We played a good five-on-five game, but lost it on the special teams,” said Calgary’s Luke Coleman. “When a team scores pretty quickly into a power play, it’s pretty deflating, we just have to clean that up and get back to our positions a little faster.”

The Hitmen opened the third period with a good push and took nine of the first 10 shots of the period, but Adam Evanoff in the Warriors goal stood tall. The rookie finished with 38 saves, including turning away Coleman and Justyn Gurney on breakaways. Evanoff runs his record to 4-0 with a .939 save percentage.

Jayden Halbgewachs added his 18th of the season with 1:43 left in the third period.

The Warriors welcomed defenceman Dmitri Zaitsev back to the lineup, but were still missing defencemen Josh Brook — who started skating for the first time since he injured his wrist in the pre-season — Jett Woo and Matthew Benson. Captain Brett Howden is also out of the lineup indefinitely after being injured during the CIBC Canada-Russia Series.

Daemon Hunt, 15, was the only defenceman on the first power-play unit. He has reached the five games he is eligible for as an underage affiliate player, but will play Saturday against Saskatoon because the Warriors received special dispensation from the league due to their glut of injuries. Matthew Sanders played his second career WHL game.

“We know we have to dig in a little more defensively to help some guys back there,” said Burke. “We have a couple of young players back there. The older forwards, especially, have to be smart with pucks at the blue line and make sure we get them out and not make them play more defence than they have to. It’s a little extra in the back of your mind, but you still just want to play your game.”

The injuries are also providing opportunities. Rookie Chase Hartje only has 14 career games, but is playing in the top-four and earning power play time. He had a pair of assists Friday.

“The injuries definitely aren’t good for the team, but I guess it’s a good opportunity to show what I can do,” Hartje said. “I want to make good passes to the forwards. I was struggling a little bit with that part of my game, so I just want to get some better passes going.”

The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period.

Tate Popple scored his first WHL goal and Luka Burzan doubled the Warriors lead on the power play.

Calgary came out strong to start the second period and Coleman scored a power-play goal before Mark Kastelic tied the game less than three minutes later.

Calgary was without leading scorer Matteo Gennaro.