Moose Jaw Warriors moving on to WHL Championship Series
The Moose Jaw Warriors are four wins away from making history.
Moose Jaw knocked off the regular-season champion Saskatoon Blades 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 to capture the Eastern Conference Championship and move on to the WHL Championship Series for the second time in franchise history and the first time since 2006.
Lynden Lakovic scored the series-clinching goal less than a minute into the extra frame.
Ethan Semeniuk broke through with his first goal of the postseason to open the game, while Saskatoon’s Easton Armstrong leveled the match in the second period.
The electric series saw a staggering six matches go to overtime, setting a modern WHL record.
Saskatoon and Moose Jaw tied the previous marker of five overtime contests in game 6, matching Kelowna and Seattle’s 2013 quarterfinal series and Tri-City and Spokane’s 2008 Western Conference Championship showdown.
Moose Jaw enters the big dance as the top-scoring team in the postseason, scoring 71 goals in 16 postseason matches for an average of nearly five goals per game.
Captain and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Denton Mateychuk and Seattle Kraken draft pick Jagger Firkus are tied for first in playoff points, with the WHL Defenceman of the Year and the CHL’s regular season points leader each piling up 27 points in 16 games.
2024 NHL Draft-eligible netminder Jackson Unger made 37 saves in the victory, including a pair of key stops on Vaughn Watterodt on the doorstep with the game tied in the third.
The 19-year-old improved to 12-1-2-0 in the playoffs, posting a 3.14 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
The Warriors are chasing the franchise’s first Ed Chynoweth Cup.
Moose Jaw will face the Western Conference Champion Portland Winterhawks in the WHL Championship series.
Game 1 is set for Friday, May 10 at 7:00 p.m. PST at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore.
