By Matthew Gourlie
Brody Willms and the Moose Jaw Warriors got off to a perfect start to their Western Hockey League season Friday.
Willms made 21 saves as he back-stopped the Warriors to a 3-0 road win over the Prince Albert Raiders.
It was Willms’ second career shutout as he enters the season as the Warriors’ No. 1 goalie for the first time in his four-year WHL career.
Brayden Burke finished off a three-on-two rush with Noah Gregor and Tanner Jeannot to open the scoring.
The Warriors had outshot the Raiders 27-12 after two periods, but only lead by the single goal.
Justin Almeida banked a rebound in off of a skate 56 seconds into the third period to double Moose Jaws lead. Less than three minutes later, Jett Woo added another. Brenden Kwiatkowski and Tate Popple each picked up their first WHL point assisting on Woo’s goal.
Between the two goals, Raiders starting goalie Ian Scott left the game with a lower-body injury. Scott stopped 26 of 28 shots in 41 minutes of work. Nicolas Sanders made 11 saves in relief.
The Warriors were without Brett Howden who is still attending Tampa Bay Lightning training camp. Defenceman Josh Brook had surgery on his wrist earlier Friday in Montréal and is out 8-12 weeks.
The Warriors were also without back up goalie Adam Evanoff and was replaced 16-year-old Ethan Fitzgerald.
Prince Albert was without defenceman Austin Crossley who has an upper-body injury and Justin Nachbaur served the second game of a four-game suspension for a charging major he received in the pre-season. Veteran forward Parker Kelly is still attending camp with the Ottawa Senators.
New Warriors Oleg Sosunov, their 6-foot-8 Russian defenceman and Tristyn DeRoose, who had 15 fighting majors last season with Vancouver, both dropped their gloves.
Earlier Friday, the Warriors rectified their overage situation by releasing Spencer Bast. The team loved what Bast brought to the table every night after acquiring him and general manager Alan Millar said he was a tough player to let go.
“This was a tough one as we were dealing with a quality young man,” Millar said. “Spencer is a heart and soul guy who made an impact on our organization in the short time he was here. We thank him for his time with the Warriors and wish him the best in his future hockey and academic endeavours.”
