It wasn’t the best game the Moose Jaw Generals have played this season, but the team is on a four game winning streak heading into the Christmas break.
The Generals handed the Swift Current Legionnaires a 4-2 loss on Thursday evening at Mosaic Place. This is the Legionnaires third straight loss and they haven’t won in 16 straight games, including 10 losses, two overtime losses and three ties. Their last victory was Nov. 6 against the Notre Dame Hounds.
“It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t the way we wanted to go about it, but definitely happy with the two points and to find a way to get it done,” said Generals head coach Ray Wareham. “It was kind of ugly, but we found a way to win.”
With the victory, the Generals sit in fourth place — a spot they wanted to be in at this time of the season. After a rough patch that lasted four games, the Generals have turned things around and head into the break on a positive note.
“Go into the break on a high note and sitting in that four spot with some games in hand. We are real happy with that,” stated Wareham. “You could tell that the focus just wasn’t there and thinking about going home. They are all leaving tonight (Thursday) to go home.”
Since their captain, Rhett Gardner returned from injury four games ago, he has scored seven goals — including a hat trick on Thursday evening. He scored on the power play, short-handed and an unassisted five-on-five goal to lead the Generals to victory.
“The short-handed goal I just got a good bounce. He didn’t give me much to shoot at, so I deked and it worked. Everything else was just part of the play. I walked the line and there was traffic in front,” explained Gardner. “We wanted to go 3-1 but going 4-0 into the break is a nice treat.”
The hat trick impressed Wareham as well, as he gave their solider of the game award to Gardner.
“I thought he was really good. Rhett lead the charge and it is nice to see him get rewarded and good way for him to go into the break,” he said.
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
