MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors are down to their final life in the 2024 Western Hockey League playoffs,
Thanks to the Saskatoon Blades’ 5-4 win in overtime on Friday night at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, the Warriors will now need a win on Sunday at the Moose Jaw Events Centre and a win on Tuesday in Saskatoon to stay alive in their quest for their first WHL Championship in team history.
But once again, they were left wondering what might have been if not for falling behind early and needing another incredible rally to just get to overtime.
This time around, it was a stunning four-goal surge in the third period that erased a 4-0 deficit and, once again, gave the Warriors a chance to win.
“We just do what we do,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary. “We just continue to work and compete and know that our skill will make plays when we do. Regardless of the circumstances, I’m just real proud of the group, they keep to the plan and forge on. I truly believe if we do that long enough we’ll see success Sunday.”
Even with the deficit, the Warriors still had more than their fair share of looks early and generally carried the play. But opportunistic goals have been a killer for the team all season, and Friday was no exception.
“To tell you the truth, I thought our start was better than theirs,” O’Leary said. “It was no different than the other night where you’re doing good things, you’re playing honest and you’re not cheating, you’re generating looks at one end and they come down and shoot it in our net. It’s frustrating, but I’m proud of the group for coming back from 4-0, not a lot of teams can do that.”
The third-period rally was helped by one of the teams occasional go-tos in the second half when they were trailing in a game -- putting Matthew Savoie on the top line alongside Jagger Firkus and Brayden Yager. That switch seemed to energize the entire line-up, as the Blades found themselves hanging on for dear life by the time the period reached its end.
“It’s nothing we haven’t done before, and sometimes changing things a little bit will spark something and it did tonight,” O’Leary said. “They just continued to work, compete and things eventually started to go their way.”
It certainly didn’t hurt to have goaltender Dmitri Fortin playing lights out after taking over from Jackson Unger midway through the contest. The Warriors tightened up defensively after the switch, and Saskatoon didn’t score again until overtime.
“Forts did a hell of a job, as he always does,” O’Leary said. “He goes in there and competes in the crease and he was a big part of the comeback. When he came in there was still a lot of hockey to be played, he made saves when he had when we needed.”
Now, it’s all about Sunday.
The Warriors will need maximum desperation, maximum effort and maximum everything if they’re going to stay alive and force a Game 7 back in Saskatoon on Tuesday.
“The only thing better would be if we could play tomorrow morning,” O’Leary said. “We just continue to play good hockey and play hard, play the right way. We’re not giving up a ton offensively in the whole series, so it’s rinse, repeat, pick ourselves up and we’ll punch back.”
Game time is 2 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
