Warriors down to last life at Memorial Cup tourney

Moose Jaw drops 5-4 decision to Knights to fall to 0-2

Ethan Semeniuk scored twice for the Warriors on Monday.

The Moose Jaw Warriors are finding out life can come at you fast at the Memorial Cup.

On Monday, the WHL champions played their second round robin game at the tournament that crowns a CHL champion taking on the London Knights, who are the champions of the OHL. Once again, the Warriors supplied their share of thrills at the DOW Event Centre in Saginaw, Michigan, but fell 5-4 in a contest played before 4,768 spectators.

The Warriors also came up short by a 5-4 final score in their first round robin contest on Friday against the host Saginaw Spirit from the OHL.

Sitting at 0-2, the Warriors are down to their last life at the Memorial Cup tournament. On Tuesday, Moose Jaw takes on the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Voltigeurs are also 0-2 at the tournament. Tuesday’s clash between the Warriors and Voltigeurs will be the final round robin game for both clubs at the tourney. The winner moves on to play in a semifinal contest on Friday, while the losing squad is eliminated from the event.

The Knights improved to 2-0 at the Memorial Cup. They close the round robin portion of the event taking on the host Spirit, who are also 2-0, on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

That clash between the Knights and Spirit will be a rematch of the OHL’s Western Conference Championship series, which London claimed 4-2. 

The winner of Wednesday’s encounter between the two OHL clubs advances to the Memorial Cup championship game slated for this coming Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Denton Mateychuk had the Warriors first goal on Monday.

The squad that falls in Wednesday’s battle will play in Friday’s semifinal contest (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN) against the winner of Tuesday’s game between the Warriors and Voltigeurs.

In Monday’s encounter between the Warriors and Knights, the WHL champs got out to a fast start. Just 27 seconds into the contest, Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus broke into the London zone on a breakaway. Firkus put a backhand shot on net that was turned away by a right pad save from Knights star netminder Michael Simpson.

Moose Jaw would break through on the scoreboard first a short time later. At the 3:39 mark of the first, Warriors captain and star defenceman Denton Mateychuk received a drop pass from Warriors star 20-year-old right-winger Atley Calvert in position for a midrange shot straight out from the left post of the London net.

Mateychuk rocketed a shot to the top left corner of the London net to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. That marked the first time the Warriors held a lead at any time in the Memorial Cup tournament. Moose Jaw is making its debut in the CHL championship event.

The Knights would answer back in the second half of the opening frame. After causing a turnover off the forecheck in the Moose Jaw zone, Knights centre Jacob Julien made a backhand pass from below the icing line to the right side of the Warriors goal across the face of the net to import right-winger Ruslan Gazizov. 

Gazizov popped the puck into an empty left side of the Moose Jaw net to even the score at 1-1.

With 2:10 remaining in the first, Knights star offensive-defenceman Sam Dickinson wired a midrange shot from the front of the Moose Jaw net through screen home to the left side of the goal to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.

Moose Jaw would even the score at 2-2 at the 7:01 mark of the second. Warriors defenceman Aiden Ziprick fired a shot from the left side of the London net that rebounded out to Warriors left-winger Ethan Semeniuk at the right side of the goal. Semeniuk quickly fired the rebound into an empty right side of the London net past a fallen Simpson for the equalizer.

Atley Calvert set up the Warriors first goal on Monday.

At that point, the Knights shot out on a surge scoring three straight goals to take a 5-2 lead. At the 9:02 mark of the second, standout rookie centre Sam O’Reilly scored a beauty for the Knights. He made a puck drag move to get around Warriors defenceman Cosmo Wilson on a rush down the left wing and roofed a close in shot to the top right corner of the Moose Jaw net to put the Knights up 3-2.

With 7:13 remaining in the second, O’Reilly found himself breaking into the Moose Jaw zone jetting down the right wing on a two-on-one rush with veteran left-winger Landon Sim speeding down the left win. O’Reilly made a pass across the front of the Moose Jaw net to Sim, who buried a shot to put the Knights up 4-2.

The Knights completed the surge with 3:46 remaining in the second, when import winger Kasper Halttunen one-timed home a midrange shot from just off to the left of the Moose Jaw to give the OHL champs their 5-2 advantage. Halttunen converted a beauty setup pass from star right-winger Easton Cowan.

Moose Jaw got a big traction moment just six second later, when Semeniuk netted his second of the contest putting home a shot from just outside the London blue-line that cut the Knights advantage to 5-3.

Things got a bit rough with 2:30 remaining in the second as Warriors offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker took on Knights power forward Max McCue in a fight. McCue got the better of Parker in the bout.

When the second period came to a close, the Knights held their 5-3 advantage holding a 24-20 edge in shots on goal. While the Knights have skill, they built their lead by playing heavy in a style similar to that of some of the skilled and physical squads that traditionally have been more usual in coming out of the WHL.

The Knights players often dumped the puck into the Moose Jaw zone, and the London forwards got some big hits on Warriors defencemen working on the forecheck.

Jagger Firkus has been snake bitten around the net.

In the third, the Warriors came with a big push holding a 10-4 edge in shots on goal. Moose Jaw elected to first pull star netminder Jackson Unger for an extra attacker with about 4:36 remaining in the third.

During a scramble around the London net with 3:55 remaining in the third, Warriors standout overage import left-winger Martin Rysavy banged the puck home into the OHL champs’ goal to trim the Knights lead to 5-4.

Unger returned to the Warriors net and was pulled once again for an extra attacker with 79 seconds remaining in the third. The Warriors proceeded to get an offensive zone faceoff with 71 seconds left in the frame.

Off the draw, Warriors star centre Brayden Yager got the puck at the right side boards of the London zone and passed it to Firkus, who was in position for a midrange one-timer just off to the left of the London net. Firkus one-timed Yager’s setup pass but the shot was corralled by Simpson.

The Knights clamped things down defensively from there to hold on to their 5-4 victory.

Unger turned away 23 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors. Simpson stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Knights.

Cowan and Denver Barkey each had a pair of helpers for the Knights. London has now won six straight games at the Memorial Cup tournament, which includes going 4-0 to win the 2016 edition of the tournament held in Red Deer, Alta.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Warriors won two elimination games taking their epic seven game WHL Eastern Conference title series win over the Saskatoon Blades. The Warriors claimed a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 of that series at home in Moose Jaw and posted a 3-2 overtime victory in a series-deciding Game 7 in Saskatoon.

On Tuesday, the Warriors take on a Voltigeurs side that is facing elimination for the first time in the 2024 post-season.

Brayden Yager nearly set up a late equalizer for the Warriors.

Moose Jaw has battled and lost two games that could have gone either way at the Memorial Cup. In the department of Captain Obvious, now would be a great time for the Warriors to get their first win at the CHL championship tourney.

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