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Moose Jaw Warriors score three goals in third to get past Lethbridge Hurricanes

Final period surge sees Moose Jaw take 4-2 victory on milestone night for head coach Mark O’Leary
Randy Palmer
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Warriors defenceman Connor Schmidt scores the Warriors’ opening goal in the second period. Nick Pettigrew

MOOSE JAW -- It was a milestone night for Moose Jaw Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary, and his charges made sure they’d find the win column as part of the celebration.

The Warriors scored three goals in the third period and would go on to a 4-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday evening at Temple Gardens Centre, picking up their second victory in as many outings and third win in their last four.

The contest also saw O’Leary become the Warriors’ franchise leader in games as a head coach, taking his place behind the bench for his 361st contest, one ahead of former all-time leader Al Tuer.

Moose Jaw improves to 6-5-1-0 on the season, moving into fifth place in the Eastern Conference, while Lethbridge falls to 3-10-0-1 and are 10th overall.

After a brief feeling out period that included Lethbridge receiving the first power play of the game, the Warriors began to take control of the proceedings, and looked as if they were rewarded with 5:40 gone in the period.

Riley Thorpe got his stick on a high point shot and tipped it into the Hurricanes goal, but after a lengthy review, the correct call was made and the goal was called back due to contact being made above the crossbar.

Things were back-and-forth the rest of the period, with neither team getting much by way of chances for the next 10 minutes. The Warriors broke through with a couple of opportunities seconds apart with four minutes remaining, but Hurricanes goaltender Koen Cleaver would come up with saves on Lynden Lakovic and Casey Brown to keep the game scoreless.

Lethbridge had their best opportunity of the period with 50 seconds left in the frame, with Logan Wormald going hard to the net on his own rebound and Kyle Jones making a pair of saves in close.

The Warriors received their first power play in the opening minute of the second period and would capitalize just as the man advantage expired. Landen McFadden found Connor Schmidt with a cross-zone pass to the right faceoff circle, and his quick shot top shelf would make it 1-0 at the 2:34 mark of the period.

Lethbridge had their first good scoring chance midway through the period when Brayden Smith got free up his wing on the rush, with Jones making a quick pad save to preserve the lead.

Enzo DiDomenicantonio had another good chance for the Hurricanes moments later, carrying to the side of the net and creating a goalmouth scramble that Jones was able to cover.

The Warriors took over momentum for the next five minutes, but a turnover at the Moose Jaw blueline on a blocked shot would lead to Wormald going in on a breakaway, and he’d slip a shot five hole to make it 1-1 with 5:24 remaining in the period.

Moose Jaw would regain the lead 1:16 into the third, as McFadden was in the right place at the right time to put home the rebound off a shot in close by Pavel McKenzie.

The one-goal edge wouldn’t last long, though as only 32 seconds later Gavin Lesiuk would take a breakaway feed from Tyden Lafournaise and put a shot top shelf blocker side to make it a 2-2 contest.

Some nice work in the Lethbridge zone led to the Warriors regaining the lead with 5:36 gone in the period. Schmidt found Thorpe with a pass from the left boards, and Thorpe would send a backdoor pass to Ethan Semeniuk for the goal.

The ice began to tilt in the Warriors favour as the period progressed, with one shift by McFadden, McKenzie and Kash Andresen leading to two McFadden breakaways and another chance in close for Andresen after a tic-tac-toe passing play.

The Hurricanes had a chance to tie the game again with eight minutes remaining when they received a power play, but Lakovic would strike instead, carrying the puck into the Hurricanes zone and dipsy doodling into the slot before putting a shot home. The goal was Lakovic’s 11th in 10 games since returning from Washington Capitals training camp.

Lethbridge pulled Cleaver for the extra attacker with just under three minutes remaining and would have a couple of chances, but the Warriors would hold the fort and collect the win.

Jones finished with 23 saves to earn the victory, Cleaver had 29 stops in the loss.

The Warriors are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings. Puck drop on the matinee contest is 3 p.m.