Friday’s Moose Jaw Warriors win wasn’t pretty.
Still, the Warriors’ 2-1 win over the Saskatoon Blades earned them two big points in the East Division standings.
“We’ve had quite a rivalry with Saskatoon the last couple of years. The games are always chippy and they’re always rough,” said Warriors captain Kendall McFaull. “As a player I enjoy those games and I think the rest of the guys do too.
“We expected it be a playoff-style game because the standings are so tight. It was a four-point game and it was a big win for us.”
The Warriors (30-14-5-1) now have a seven-point lead on Saskatoon and an eight-point lead on Regina in the East Division. The Warriors are back on the ice Saturday when they host the Swift Current Broncos.
Warriors head coach Mike Stothers will be looking for a better performance from his club against the Broncos.
“I thought we were very lucky to get two points out of this one. I wasn’t very enamoured with the way we played — from anybody,” said Stothers. “Maybe that’s a good thing that we found a way to win the game, but that certainly wasn’t the effort or the performance I was looking for.
“With the importance of the game and the opponent, you would expect a little more urgency in your play.”
The Blades opened the scoring though Matej Stransky in the second period.
The Warriors tied the game on a four-on-four when Quinton Howden beat Saskatoon goalie Andrey Makarov over the shoulder.
The Warriors took the lead with 20.6 seconds left in the second period when James Henry fed Kenton Miller in front of the net and Miller showed off some quick hands to beat Makarov for a power play goal.
Makarov made 34 saves for the Blades in his first game back after suffering a concussion on Jan. 9 in his first game after representing Russia at the world juniors.
Luke Siemens finished with 29 saves for the Warriors and saved his best work for the third period. He made a nice pad save on Darren Dietz and made a strong reaction save on a deflected shot by Brent Benson. With 3:50 left in the game Benson his the inside of the post.
