Ice and Warriors keep second round playoffs close with tied score

After playing two games this weekend at the Ice Cave inside the Wayne Flemming Arena, the Winnipeg Ice and Moose Jaw Warriors each claim a game, now tied 1-1.

On Friday the Ice took off with a strong start, with Owen Pederson capturing the first goal in a power play, with Zach Benson and Matthew Savoie following his lead. Brayden Yager from Mosse Jaw Warriors put the visiting team on the board and the Ice led 3-1 in the first period.

The Warriors quickly answered in the second with two more goals from Maximus Wanner and Jagger Firkus.

In the third period, Connor McClennon found the back of the net and Graham Sward secured the win, bringing Winnipeg a victory with a 5-3 ending score.

Little did the home team know, this score would be reversed at their next meeting with the Warriors who won Saturday's game 5-3 which tied the two teams for the second round of the playoff series 1-1.

Ryder Korczak claimed the Warriors' first point, with Yager scoring twice and Martin Rysavy once afterwards to bring the visiting team a 4-0 advantage in the first period.

It wasn't until the third period that the Ice finally found the back of their opponent's net from Zach Ostapchuk, McClennon and Carson Latimer.

"I can say that we didn't execute, missed so many nets," says Ice coach, James Patrick. "They made some adjustments and we had a bit of trouble with it. Didn't get too many pucks on the net and didn't fight for rebounds. We did have some chances, but I just thought the execution wasn't good enough."

In a last attempt to bring the game to overtime, the Ice left their net empty that didn't go their way and gave the Warriors an insuring goal from Josh Hoekstra.

Daniel Hauser, who played the entirety of Friday's game and a portion of Saturday's game, has been nominated from the East Division for the WHL Goaltender of the Year.

Games three and four will now be hosted by Moose Jaw at the Events Centre tomorrow and Wednesday at 7 p.m. The two teams are guaranteed to meet again inside the Ice Cave for game five on Saturday, April 22.