MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors are off to the second round of the playoffs.
The Warriors built a 5-1 lead through the first period and a half and went on to a 6-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in Western Hockey League action on Thursday night in Brandon.
As a result, they win their Eastern Conference quarter-final series four-games-to-none, finishing off a first-round sweep for the second straight year and advancing to the second round for the third straight season.
Moose Jaw won Game 1 7-4 last Friday and took a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2 Saturday before winning 6-4 in Brandon Wednesday night.
The Warriors will now wait to see how things play out in the other playoff series but will have home ice advantage in the second round regardless, and that series will likely start next Friday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
It didn’t take long for things to get going in Game 4.
The Warriors opened scoring three minutes into the game, kicking off a flurry of action over the next few minutes.
Rilen Kovacevic got things started when he was in the right place at the right time to put home a deflection off a Lucas Brenton point shot, but Carter Klippenstein would get that one right back 1:06 later, redirecting a pass to the front of the net by Dominik Petr.
Only 21 seconds after that marker the Warriors would regain the lead, thanks to a nifty drop pass from Pavel McKenzie to Atley Calvert, who ripped a shot from the left faceoff circle top shelf.
Lynden Lakovic then made it a 3-1 game with 9:33 gone, finding some open ice in the Brandon zone and putting home a shot from the high slot.
The Warriors made it a three goal lead with 1:20 remaining in the period, and it was a bit of a strange one. The Wheat Kings let Denton Mateychuk have all sorts of time and space at the top of the zone, and he’d put a simple wrist shot on net that found its way past Carson Bjarnason for 4-1 edge.
Moments after that goal, Jagger Firkus -- the East Division Player of the Year -- dropped the gloves with Luke Shiply behind the Brandon net, with both players leaving the scrap no worse for wear.
The Warriors had the majority of pressure through the first half of the second period, and they’d add to their lead with 7:50 gone. Matthew Savoie found a bit of space and time to move around the zone, and his shot across the flow from the front of the net beat Bjarnason blocker side.
The goal and earlier assist sees Savoie continue his two-point-game pace from the regular season, and the Buffalo Sabres product now leads the WHL playoff scoring race with five goals and eight points in four games.
The fifth goal was the end of the night for the Philadelphia Flyers prospect, who allowed five goals on 22 shots in 27:50 of play.
Brandon got one back with 1:52 remaining in the second period, with Rylan Roersma finding a rebound in traffic and swatting the puck home to make it a three-goal game.
The Wheat Kings pulled Ethan Eskit for the extra attacker with 4:44 to play in the period, but Firkus would score with 17.6 seconds remaining.
Jackson Unger turned aside 35 shots to earn the win, Eskit finished off the game with 20 saves, with the Warriors putting up 42 shots total.
Moose Jaw could know their second round opponent as early as Friday night, depending on how things play out in Game 5 between the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders.
A Saskatoon win, and the Warriors will face the Swift Current Broncos, who finished off a sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes Wednesday. Should the Raiders come all the way back, they’ll be Moose Jaw’s second-round opponent.
