MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- If the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League game between the Moose Jaw WINMAR Warriors and Regina Pat Canadians on Saturday afternoon is any indication of what the season series will be like, fans will be in for some pretty good hockey any time they meet.
The Warriors took a 2-1 lead out of the first period but saw Regina score six goals in the second, with the Pat Canadians going on to a 7-5 victory in the showdown between the league’s top two teams.
Regina improved to 14-3-1 with the win and continue to hold down first place in the SMAAAHL, with the Warriors dropping to 13-3-1 and sitting two points back of top spot.
“Our start wasn’t good, but we showed the strength of our team, our compete and our depth,” said Regina head coach Ryan Hodgins. “We have guys one-to-12 up front where we could flip the iines any day and still be effective. Then it’s the same with our back end and our goaltending is solid. So we’re fortunate to have a group that works their butt off and with our depth, we have a lot of guys who can go.”
Logan Mehl and Chase Surkan each scored twice in the second period for the Pat Cs, while Cash Lanigan and SMAAAHL scoring leader Maddox Schultz all had single markers. Jonah Sivertson scored their lone goal in the first.
Mehl and Surkan each had four points in the game, and with the way things have been going for Regina, it could be the same production for any player on any given night.
“With the scoring spread out, it’s always good to look at the sheet and see a bunch of guys getting points and contributions from a lot of players,” Hodgins said. “And even without the points, the little things like guys who block shots and finish checks, it’s all stuff that’s recognized by our staff and our team.”
Despite facing that offensive outburst, the Warriors showed why they’re in second place with how they played in the final frame, as captain Brennan Brown finished off his hat trick and Hudson Sayers got Moose Jaw back within a pair with 6:28 to play.
That made for an interesting finish, with the Warriors getting a couple of good scoring chances late, but just falling short of finding the back of the net.
“I thought we played well for two periods, but we just didn’t have a good second,” said Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber. “They scored two power play goals right away and we’re on our heels, and that just doesn’t work when you’re playing a good hockey team.
I think there were a lot of good things that we did, and if we don’t gift them three or four goals this is a different game.”
Seeing the near comeback left Weisgerber looking forward to future meetings between the two teams, especially if they have all systems go.
“They’re a team we always battle with, and when you’re playing those teams you have to have everybody and make sure everyone is pulling the rope and doing everything they can to win those hockey games,” he said. “So we’ll see what happens when we play them again.”
Ryan Gibbs scored the Warriors’ other goal in the first period and has moved up into second in SMAAAHL scoring with 17 goals and 30 points in 17 games, three back of the rookie Schultz.
Taylor Tabashniuk was the winning goaltender with 28 saves, Luke McKechnie had 11 stops for the Warriors.
Moose Jaw was back in action Sunday afternoon and had a much better result, rolling to a 9-5 win over the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox.
Brown led the Moose Jaw offence with a goal and five points, while Gibbs racked up a hat trick. Keirin Osberg, Carson Deichert and Carson Park all had a goal and assist, with single markers going to Tyler Hudec and Noah Thul.
Ryder Gilroy, Ryken Arran, Cash Martin, North McKee and Noah Aldred scored for Notre Dame.
Kaleb Page had 28 saves in goal for Moose Jaw, Steven Wawryk stopped 48 for the Hounds.
The WINMAR Warriors are back in action Wednesday when they travel to Saskatoon to face the Blazers.
