One night after a third period collapse, the Moose Jaw Warriors were able to hang on to a lead and earn their first win of the WHL season.
The Warriors beat the Regina Pats 2-1 in a Sunday afternoon matinee in the Queen City. Last year’s Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy winners looked like they were going to get in the win column Saturday, but couldn’t hang onto a 4-1 third period lead against the Prince Albert Raiders, losing 5-4 in overtime.
The Warriors got off to a fast start in Regina as 20-year-old Tristin Langan scored twice in the first period to stake the Warriors to a 2-0 lead.
Koby Morrisseau scored his first goal of the season for the Pats in the second period to cut the lead to one.
Regina out-shot Moose Jaw 15-7 in the third period, but 20-year-old goalie Brodan Salmond stood tall in his Warriors debut. The former Kelowna Rockets goalie finished with 31 saves to earn the win.
Max Paddock made 31 saves in goal for the Pats.
Brandon Schuldhaus made his first appearance of the season for the Warriors. The 20-year-old defenceman had picked up a match penalty in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against Swift Current and was suspended for the first three games of the season.
Defenceman Jett Woo has yet to play for the Warriors this season as he recovers from a lower-body injury. Former Spokane Chief Dalton Hamaliuk, 20, played the first three games of the season, but was scratched Sunday so Salmond could make his debut. The Warriors currently have four 20-year-olds.
Pats athletic therapist Greg Mayer celebrated his 1,500th game in the league. It was a fitting foe for the milestone as Mayer began his career in Moose Jaw 22 years ago.
Sergei Sapego opened the scoring for Prince Albert with a power-play blast in Mosaic Place Saturday night, but the Warriors responded well.
It took Moose Jaw 9:34 to record their first shot on goal of the night, but they managed to score four straight goals. Brayden Tracey set up Justin Almeida for a one-timer just as a power play ended and then Tracey scored his first two WHL goals before the end of the second period.
Yegor Buyalski scored his first WHL goal for the Warriors 2:07 into the third to add to the Warriors lead.
The Raiders were knocking on the door, but Adam Evanoff was outstanding, making three point-black saves and stopping two breakaway chances after the Warriors took the lead.
Aliaksei Protas netted his first WHL goal for the Raiders as three of the four Belorussians that played in the game scored a goal.
Justin Nachbaur scored with 2:32 left in the third and Parker Kelly tied the game 1:03 later.
Kelly scored the overtime winner 1:35 in on a feed from Spencer Moe.
The Warriors were out-shot 16-3 in the third and 39-15 on the night. Evanoff made 34 saves.
Donovan Buskey made 11 saves to win his first game as a Raider after coming over from Spokane.
Warriors defenceman Josh Brook signed a three-year entry level contract with the Montreal Canadiens and then came back to Moose Jaw and was named captain. The next day he scored twice in the Warriors’ home opener — a 4-2 loss to Brandon.
The Warriors lost 2-1 in Brandon to open the season.
Almeida has a point in all four games this season and Brook has a point in each of the three games he’s played.
The only Warriors game that wasn’t a one-goal contest featured an empty-net goal.
The Warriors’ 50-50 draw for their home opener brought in a total of $383,450 after a carryover from a game last season.
