The Moose Jaw Warriors found themselves in a big hole entering the third period on Sunday night in a game against the Winnipeg ICE. They played a solid final 20 minutes; however, the deficit proved to be too big as Winnipeg skated to a 5-4 win over the lowly Warriors.
In a game where the Warriors generated just 20 shots, they made the most of it offensively, but the ICE put 38 on goal and found a way to beat Brock Gould five times.
The five-goal performance was the second in as many nights for the ICE, who have now won 29 games.
Winnipeg’s power play was perfect on the night as it went 2-for-2.
“Those two ones early were really important for us,” said James Patrick, head coach, after the game courtesy of winnipegice.ca. “Their goalie was outstanding at times on the night.”
Peyton Krebs opened up the offence on the evening. He filled the net with his eighth goal of the season at the 12:47 mark as the ICE took a 1-0 lead. That lead, however, didn’t last very long at all as the Warriors bounced right back.
Eric Alarie set up Logan Doust who made no mistake as he beat Jesse Makaj to tie the game up.
Moose Jaw then headed back to the penalty box and Winnipeg made them pay. 3:57 after Krebs opened the scoring, he was back at it. He scored his second goal of the night, potting the puck past Gould to give the ICE a 2-1 lead — one they held into the second.
Dawson Barteaux then lit the lamp, tallying his ninth of the season to give the ICE a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
Trailing 3-1, Moose Jaw went back on the offence. Cade Hayes netted his fourth of the season to trim the deficit to one at the 10:56 mark. The East Division leaders in Winnipeg responded and dominated the remainder of the second.
While a man down, Cole Muir beat Gould to give Winnipeg a 4-2 lead, and with just 28 seconds left in the second, Michal Teply continued his impressive rookie season as he notched his 18th marker of the campaign to give Winnipeg a 5-2 lead after 40.
Kade Runke has now played in 37 games with Moose Jaw this season, and although his team lost, the game will go down as one he won’t forget. 8:54 into the third, Runke scored his first-ever Western Hockey League goal as he trimmed the deficit to two.
Tate Popple then deposited his sixth goal of the season to get Moose Jaw within one goal with 2:03 left on the clock.
However, that was as close as they could get. No more goals were scored and Winnipeg earned a 5-4 win.
The win ended Winnipeg’s nine-game homestand where they won six times.
“We’re really happy with the two points and four points this weekend,” concluded Patrick.
Winnipeg now heads to Alberta for three games beginning on Wednesday. Stay tuned on Tuesday when Darnell Duff will break down their trip.
Moose Jaw, meanwhile, won’t play again until Friday when the team opens up a two-game homestand against Saskatoon and Victoria.
ICINGS:
- Jakin Smallwood quietly put together a solid game for Winnipeg. He won three of the five faceoffs he took and had two assists.
- Winnipeg joins just six other teams who have at least 29 wins this season.
- Moose Jaw has dropped two straight and nine of its last 10.
