MOOSE JAW -- The Saskatoon Blades roared out to an early lead and responded to everything the Moose Jaw Warriors threw at them all night on their way to finding the win column in Western Hockey League action on Saturday night.
Saskatoon took a 3-0 lead early in the first period and spent the rest of the night replying to Warriors comeback attempts, eventually going on to an 8-5 victory at Temple Gardens Centre in Moose Jaw.
The Warriors fall to 5-5-1-0 and remain in fifth in the Eastern Conference, while the Blades improve to 8-3-0-0 and have jumped into a tie for first with the Edmonton Oil Kings pending the result of their game in Prince Albert on Saturday.
After a back-and-forth opening, the Blades would strike for three goals inside of five minutes to take command of the game.
Kazden Mathies got things going, with Zach Olsen beginning the play by forcing a turnover in the Blades zone before breaking up the ice on a three-on-one. He’d find Mathies with a cross-crease pass for the game’s opening goal at the 5:36 mark.
Moose Jaw product Rowan Calvert then scored his seventh of the season 1:40 later, taking a feed from Brayden Klimpke at the edge of the slot and blasting a quick shot into the open net.
Mathies then capped off the goal surge at the 10:13 mark, getting the last touch on a Jordan Martin point shot that found the back of the net.
Former Prairie Hockey Academy standout Gage Nagel continued his hot hand as of late and got one back for Moose Jaw before the period was out, breaking down his wing and putting home a shot short side from the bottom of the right faceoff circle. The goal at 18:13 was his third in as many games and fifth of the season.
That closed out the opening frame with Saskatoon holding a 3-1 lead.
The second period started with a flurry of three goals in the first 3:29.
Saskatoon restored their three-goal edge barely a minute into the second period. A Warriors turnover in their zone led to Jack Kachkowski finding some open ice to maneuver, and his shot from the right faceoff circle would find its way past a screened Kyle Jones 1:15 in.
Only 40 seconds after that goal, Warriors captain Lynden Lakovic would make it a 3-2 game, breaking down the left wing and ripping a shot from the left faceoff dot top shelf glove side.
The Blades responded 1:34 after that marker, with Klimpke’s shot from the point finding its way through traffic and into the back of the net.
That was the end of the night for Jones, who gave way to Matthew Hutchison after allowing five goals on nine shots in 23:29.
The Warriors had a chance to tighten up the lead when Saskatoon took back-to-back minor penalties midway through the period, but the Blades would successfully kill both off.
Moose Jaw would get back within a pair not long after, though, as Mathieu Lajoie put a puck deep in the right corner to the front of the net, and Dominik Pavlik would tip it home from the top of the crease at the 11:22 mark. The goal was the first of the season for the Czechia import.
Pavel McKenzie then made it a 5-4 game with 6:58 left in the period, taking a feed from Colt Carter into the slot and ripping a shot past Blades goaltender Ethan McCallum. The power play marker was McKenzie’s fourth goal of the season.
Saskatoon wouldn’t let up, though, as Triston Mitchell-McElhone would win a battle in front of the Warriors net and jam home a loose puck to restore their two-goal edge with 3:09 remaining in the second.
Sure enough, Moose Jaw would get one more to close out the period. Pavlik put a harmless looking hard-angle shot on the net, but it would go off McCallum’s stick and find the back of the net, making it 6-5 Saskatoon to close out the second period.
The goals kept coming early in the third, and this time it was a pretty one. Cooper Williams found himself all alone in front of the net, pulled the puck back between his legs and lifted a shot over Hutchison and into the net for a 7-5 lead with 4:12 gone in the frame.
Hayden Harsani then made it a three-goal lead with 8:46 to play in the game, finishing off a short two-on-one with Mathies.
That would close out scoring, and Saskatoon had their win in the high-scoring contest.
McCallum stopped 17 of 22 shots through two periods, Evan Gardner closed things out by stopping all 10 he faced in the third.
Hutchison stopped 11 of 14 shots after taking over from Jones.
Saskatoon is back in action Sunday when the take on Edmonton in what could be a first-place showdown, with puck drop at 4 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.
The Warriors return to the ice Tuesday when they host the Red Deer Rebels. Game time is 7 p.m. at Temple Gardens Centre.
