Warriors one win away from WHL title after 4-3 overtime thriller

The Moose Jaw Warriors were once again in familiar territory on Tuesday — an overtime period — and were able to emerge as the victors for a fifth time.

The Warriors, who now hold a 5-3 overtime record in the playoffs, won 4-3 over the Portland Winterhawks in Game 3 of the WHL Final at the Moose Jaw Events Centre thanks to a goal by Brayden Schuurman.

Schuurman said the goal was the result of quick transition off of a turnover, and he credited centre Ethan Semeniuk with helping to set it up.

“He got a quick shot on net, and I think I happened to bat it out of the air and it went into the net. It’s a pretty good feeling,” Schuurman said.

Moose Jaw now has a 3-0 lead in the series, meaning the team can claim its first-ever Ed Chynoweth Cup with one more win.

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The Warriors played six overtime games in the previous series with the Saskatoon Blades, a WHL record.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said it was a sloppy game, but he admired his team’s effort.

“Play with the puck, whether it was ice conditions or not, I just thought we were a little bit separated. I thought as the game went on, we got a little better on that aspect,” he said.

“For the most part, I thought we kept things to the outside, but I think tomorrow will be will be much better just in terms of getting back to checking hard and being around the puck with numbers, but (it was a) gutsy performance for sure to find a way to win.”

Lucas Brenton scored the first goal of the game in the opening period for the Warriors.

But Portland answered with a pair of goals from Tyson Yaremko and Nate Danielson to take the lead.

In the second period, Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk gave Moose Jaw the lead once again with two goals in the frame.

“Puck wasn’t always in our favour, but we found a way to get it done,” he said.

After a delay due to an ice issue between the second and third periods, but Portland netted a goal to take the lead. But just 3:56 into the period, Marcus Nguyen found the tying goal which would take the game to overtime.

Mateychuk said the team felt a sense of calm going into overtime, as they’re very familiar with those kinds of situations.

With the game on the line, Schuurman scored 2:20 into the extra frame, giving Moose Jaw the win.

The Warriors now have a chance to sweep the Winterhawks and win the Ed Chynoweth cup in front of a home crowd.

O’Leary said it was important to stay level in order to clinch the series.

“Stay present in the moment (and) don’t get too ahead of ourselves. We know it’s the hardest one to win,” O’Leary said.

“We know who we’re playing . It’s a heck of a hockey team over there and they’re not going away, so we’ll get their best effort and we have the same mindset that we always have.”

Mateychuk said it’s a good feeling to know victory is within Moose Jaw’s grasp, but he agreed that the team’s mindset is the same whether it’s the regular season or the finals. Mateychuk also credited Warriors fans, who packed the stands in another sellout game.

“We’ve got the whole city behind us, it feels like,” Mateychuk said. “They’ve been awesome throughout my whole career and then, especially in this playoffs, they were greeting us and everything like that, and I think that gives us a little extra boost.”

Game 4 is Wednesday with the puck set to drop at 8 p.m.