Warriors Down Hitmen in OT

The Moose Jaw Warriors came from behind Sunday night to beat the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 in overtime at Mosaic Place.

The Hitmen took a 2-0 on goals from Jaynen Rissling and Brady Brassart. The Warriors notched their first of the game at 14:45 when Cody Beach scored on the power play. Sam Fioretti tied the game with three minutes to go in the first on a goal mouth scramble.

The teams produced 19 shots in the second, but neither was able to find the back of the net.

In the third, Calgary outshot the tribe 16-5, but goalie Luke Siemens' turned them away keeping it a 2-2 game heading into overtime.

The Warriors had a power play carry over from the third to OT, and they capitalized, as Quinton Howden scored the game winner at 1:22.

Howden was the game's third star, finishing with a goal and two points, and says it was a hard fought battle. "They're (Calgary) on a long road trip right now, and I think we kind of expected them to be a bit slower in the first half of the game. They definitely weren't, they came at us hard and we had to fight back. Luckily we got the win in the end, but we have to be ready for those types of moments."

Luke Siemens was named the games first star, celebrating his 19th birthday by making 33 saves to lead the Warriors to the win. Moose Jaw assistant coach Mike Vandenberghe says Siemens put them in a position to pick up the win.

"I definitely think he held us in there. A lot of power play opportunities that they got some shots, I think he played solid."

Morgan Rielly and Justin Kirsch had two assists each, while captain Kendall McFaull picked up a helper on the game winner. Former Warrior Collin Bowman had an assist for Calgary in the loss.

The win moves the Warriors record to 11-5-1, and extends their winning streak to five games. Howden attributes their recent success to hard work.

"We have guys playing their roles. (Jordan) Wyton had a great fight that sparked the boys. The guys know their jobs and their roles and everyone's doing it. Basically we're all sticking to the page and getting things done right."

The Warriors will take today off before returning to the ice Tuesday for practice. The tribe has three games in three nights starting Thursday with the first of back-to-back games against Regina. The series shifts to Moose Jaw Friday, they head to Swift Current Saturday.

All games can be heard on Country 100, DiscoverMooseJaw.com, and mjwarriors.ca with James Gallo, Derek Kletzel, and Marc Smith. Coverage from all three will start with the PreGame Show at 6:40pm.