OT victory puts Warriors one win away from first WHL crown

Schuurman nets extra time winner in Game 3 of title series

The Warriors and their fans celebrate their OT win on Tuesday.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – “The Hangar” was loud on Tuesday night, and it might be even louder on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday play before 4,641 spectators at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, which is also known as “The Hanger,” the host Moose Jaw Warriors found themselves locked in a 3-3 tie heading to overtime in Game 3 of the WHL Championship Series against the Portland Winterhawks. It didn’t take long for the Warriors to make the jam packed crowd bring their loudest cheers of the night.

Just 2:20 into overtime, Warriors 19-year-old right-winger Rilen Kovacevic drove into the Portland zone on a rush and wired a shot from the front of the Winterhawks net off the crossbar. The puck came down to the left side of the Portland net.

Brayden Schuurman had the OT winner for the Warriors.

Warriors veteran centre Brayden Schuurman got to the loose puck and popped it into an open cage to deliver his squad to a 4-3 victory. As Schuurman’s tally entered the net, the crowd at the Moose Jaw Events Centre exploded with their loudest cheers since the building opened on August 19, 2011.

The win allowed the Warriors to take a commanding 3-0 lead in best-of-seven set to claim the Ed Chynoweth Cup. They will try to close the series out and attempt to win their first WHL championship in team history in Game 4 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

The last team from “The Friendly City” to win the WHL title was the Moose Jaw Canucks in the circuit’s inaugural season back in the 1966-67 campaign. The Canucks downed the Regina Pats 4-1 in a best-of-seven series in 1967 for the league title.

Lucas Brenton had the Warriors first goal on Tuesday.

The Winterhawks, who are one of the WHL’s most storied teams, didn’t allow the Warriors to have anything easy in Game 3 on Tuesday. Portland came out with a spirited effort.

Still, the Warriors broke through on the scoreboard on a goal from defensive-defenceman Lucas Brenton at the 4:22 mark of the opening frame. Brenton found himself beside just off the left of the Portland goal and he tapped home a backdoor feed from the right side of the goal by Kovacevic to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

As raucous as the fans got after Brenton’s goal, the Winterhawks brought the crowd’s volume level down a short time later. Just 2:19 after Brenton’s tally, Winterhawks rookie right-winger Ryan Miller, who just turned 17-years-old, sprung 18-year-old rookie left-winger Tyson Yaremko on a breakaway. Yaremko sniped home a shot to the low left side of the Moose Jaw net to even the score at 1-1.

The Warriors faithful cheer a goal from Lucas Brenton.

Shortly after Yaremko’s goal, the Warriors found themselves on the power-play, but Winterhawks star centre Nate Danielson ended up delivering a big play. Getting the puck deep in the Moose Jaw zone, Danielson cut past Warriors star centre Brayden Yager and Warriors star netminder Jackson Unger to pop home a backhander for a short-handed goal that gave the Winterhawks a 2-1 lead at the 8:34 mark of the first.

That marked the first time Portland led at any point in any game of the series. The Winterhawks exited the opening frame holding their 2-1 lead and a 16-12 edge in shots on goal.

Tyson Yaremko had the Winterhawks first goal on Tuesday.

The second period became Denton Mateychuk time for the Moose Jaw Warriors. Working on a power play early in the frame, Warriors star centre Matthew Savoie passed the puck from the right side boards to Mateychuk at the top of the right faceoff circle.

The Warriors captain wired home a wrist shot to the top right corner of the Portland net passed a screened star Winterhawks netminder in Jan Spunar to even the score at 2-2 at the 3:37 mark of the frame.

With 2:41 remaining in the second, Savoie looked like he might have gotten away with a slight of hand play to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead on a rebound from a scoring attempt by Warriors star right-winger and WHL player-of-the-year Jagger Firkus. Firkus tried to score on a Michigan style lacrosse shot and the puck from his shot rebounded off the crossbar of the Portland net.

Nate Danielson scored a short-handed goal for the Winterhawks.

Savoie knocked the rebound as it was in the air into the Portland goal with his hand, and the officials at first ruled it was a goal. After going to a video review, it was determined Savoie knocked the puck in with his hand and the goal was disallowed.

The Warriors would go on the power play as Winterhawks offensive-defenceman Luca Cagnoni was penalized for high-sticking on that play.

That ensuing power play gave Mateychuk a chance to strike again. Working that man advantage, Warriors 20-year-old star right-winger Atley Calvert had the puck below the icing line off to the right of the Portland net.

Denton Mateychuk scored two power-play goals for the Warriors.

Calvert placed a pass up centre ice to Mateychuk at the top of the left faceoff circle. Mateychuk wired home his second power-play goal of the night to the right side of the Portland net to put the Warriors up 3-2 with 2:30 remaining in the second. Moose Jaw took that advantage into the second intermission.

There was about a 10 minute delay in starting the third period as the Zamboni flood watered on the ice too much in the second intermission. The Zamboni had to come again out on the ice to get the playing surface right for the third frame to get underway.

The Winterhawks didn’t go away. At the 3:56 mark of the third, Winterhawks standout left-winger Marcus Nguyen threw a puck from the left side boards in the Moose Jaw zone in the direction of the Warriors goal. The puck deflected off Warriors offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker into the Moose Jaw net to allow the visitors to pull even at 3-3.

Matthew Savoie had a goal that was disallowed.

That set the stage for the contest to go to overtime and Schuurman to come through with his winner.

Unger stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors. Spunar turned away 32 shots to take the setback in net for the Winterhawks.

Kovacevic, Yager and Ethan Semeniuk each recorded two assists in the win for the Warriors. Moose Jaw improved to 9-0 in the post-season when leading a game after two periods. The Warriors have also won their last five straight games.

During the regular season, the Winterhawks finished third overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 mark and were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Warriors finished fifth overall in the WHL regular season with a 44-21-0-3 mark.

Brayden Yager had a pair of assists for the Warriors.

The Warriors and Winterhawks met once during the regular season back on February 28. Moose Jaw took that encounter 4-3 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

The WHL final between the two sides was expected to be tightly contested. The Warriors have pulled out two victories by one goal to take their 3-0 series lead.

The Warriors existed for four seasons in Winnipeg before moving to Moose Jaw before the start of the 1984-85 campaign. 

In their first 16 seasons in Moose Jaw, the Warriors had only four winning records, but their raucous fans continued to back them.

Brayden Schuurman is cheered by the fans as he heads off the ice.

Now, we get to see if the Warriors can deliver the biggest post-game party Moose Jaw has ever seen with a WHL championship clinching victory on home ice. For Warriors fans, this moment is so close it almost might not seem real that it could happen.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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