Brody Willms made a lot of big saves Friday night for the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The 19-year-old goaltender saved his best for last.
Willms had to be at full stretch to rob Regina Pats defenceman Jonathan Smart twice at the side of the net in overtime.
Willms followed that up, by stoning Matt Bradley in tight. Seconds after that save, Jett Woo hit Warriors captain Brett Howden with a 140-foot pass to spring Howden for a breakaway goal in a 5-4 win.
“Three-on-three is pretty exciting and there’s obviously a lot of room out there,” Willms said. “It’s exciting and it’s fun to play in and I’m glad we were able to pull out the win tonight.”
Willms finished the night with 30 saves and his third win to start the season as he assumes the starters’ role for the first time in his WHL career.
“If anyone ever wants to question his ability to be a No. 1 goalie, I thought last Saturday against P.A. would have answered that, but his game tonight really answered that,” said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter. “They had some great chances, especially some cross-crease chances that he had to make 10-bell saves on and he really answered the bell.
“Honestly, he was excellent.”
The Warriors are 3-0, while the Pats — the CHL’s top-ranked team — are 1-2-1-0 to start the season.
Neither team was in mid-season form, but the 3,855 at Mosaic Place left highly entertained. The game was tied three different times in a back-and-forth affair.
“There were a lot of chances for both teams, but I thought we did a good job of sticking with it and not getting down,” Willms said.
The Pats opened the scoring when Sam Steel scored on a short-handed breakaway.
Oleg Sosunov tied the game for the Warriors with a power play goal and Brayden Burke scored short-handed to put Moose Jaw ahead. Sosunov, who didn’t register a point last season in 40 games in the Russian junior leagues, scored his second goal of the night as he jumped into the rush and buried a Noah Gregor pass as he crashed the net.
“You help him develop by putting him on the power play and giving him some time with the puck offensively to get more comfortable with it and build more confidence,” Hunter said. “He’s never been played in those situations…and we know he’s not going to be an offensive-defenceman when he plays in the NHL. But he’s going to contribute offensively here because he sees the ice well and he’s got one heck of a shot.”
Sosunov is a plus-six through three games and the six-foot-eight defenceman logged a lot of minutes against the Pats’ high-octane forwards and more than held his own.
“His hockey IQ is really high. He’s a very smart player. Once he gets comfortable with the ice and the speed and he starts processing the game like the rest of the guys who have played (in North America) before, he’s going to be an exceptional player,” Hunter said.
Regina trailed 3-1 after two periods but took advantage of two power plays and Emil Oksanen scored 1:45 apart in the third period to tie the game.
The Warriors were short-handed in more ways than one. Veteran defenceman Colin Paradis left the game early and Oleg Sosunov received a 10-minute misconduct for not having hit mouthguard in. Both Pats power play goals came with Sosunov off the ice.
Jayden Halbgewachs restored the Warriors lead with a power-play goal before Dawson Davidson tied the game once again for Regina.
Steel and Josh Mahura were both returned to the Pats early Friday by Anaheim and had standout performances. Mahura had three assists and Steel also had a three-point night.
“We set a high standard last year and we obviously want to match that,” Steel said. “It’s early in the season and we know we’re going to be playing in May. There’s a lot of time to fix those things and become a championship team.
“We need to make some progress soon. You don’t want to put it off, but we’re obviously building to be a championship team that peaks in May.”
Both teams finished with a short-handed goal and were 2-for-5 on the power play.
The Warriors also earned a five-minute power play in the second period when Regina’s Marco Creta checked Tanner Jeannot from behind causing Jeannot to hit his face on the crossbar. Creta received a cross-checking major and a game misconduct.
Tyler Brown made 33 saves in goal for the Pats.
Hunter said that Paradis is day-to-day and didn’t rule him out for Saturday’s game against Red Deer. Rookie defenceman Chase Hartje remains out after injuring his leg in the pre-season. Josh Brook also remains sidelined for two more months after undergoing wrist surgery.
