MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors are moving on to the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference final.
The Warriors had a hat trick from Jagger Firkus and went on to a 4-2 victory in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series against the Swift Current Broncos, taking a four-games-to-one victory to advance to the third round for the first time since the 2012 WHL Playoffs.
The win at the Moose Jaw Events Centre sends the Warriors to the conference final against the Saskatoon Blades, with that series starting Friday at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.
The Warriors had the majority of chances in the first five minutes, but as per usual in the series, Swift Current opened scoring.
Broncos forward Josh Filmon continued his solid showing in the series by finding space in the Moose Jaw zone and getting off a shot that went off the post and in 5:32 into the game.
Only 38 seconds later, things were tied. Jagger Firkus forced a turnover at the blueline and went in on an eventual four-on-one before keeping and beating Reid Dyck glove side for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
Broncos defenceman Tyson Galloway took a delay of game penalty with 11:32 gone in the period, and Firkus would capitalize once again. With Atley Calvert setting a screen in front, Dyck completely lost track of the puck, leading to Mateychuk finding the WHL’s regular-season scoring leader at the side of the net, and he’d score into the wide-open cage with 7:52 to play in the opening frame.
Swift Current ran into penalty trouble early in the third, with back-to-back hooking minors to Mathew Ward and Conor Geekie putting the Broncos down two men for more than a minute.
It took the Warriors seconds into the two-man advantage to score, with Firkus finishing off his hat trick thanks to a one-timer pass to the left face-off circle by Denton Mateychuk.
Dyck and Warriors goaltender Jackson Unger went to work the rest of the period, each making big saves to keep the score where it was. That included a point blank save by Unger on Geekie and a breakaway stop on Matthew Savoie by Dyck as the period progressed.
Dyck had to continue to be sharp in the third period, and he’d make huge saves on Atley Calvert and Martin Rysavy in the first five minutes to keep it a two-goal game.
The Broncos took advantage of their third power play of the game to get back within one, with Geekie getting off a shot from the right side that went top shelf with 6:33 to play in the contest.
That would mark the final goal of the season for Swift Current, though, as despite some late pressure, Savoie would score into the empty net with 51 seconds remaining to finish things off.
Unger capped his night with 34 saves, Dyck stopped 35.
Moose Jaw will now have the week off to rest and prepare for the Blades, with the full schedule for that series to be released soon.
Be sure to keep an eye on www.whl.ca and Warriors social media for the upcoming schedule and when tickets will be on sale for Games 3 and 4 in Moose Jaw on Tuesday, Apr. 30 and Wednesday, May 1.
