The first of the three final home games of the 2011-12 regular season sees the Lethbridge Hurricanes come into the Warriors' house. The Warriors and Hurricanes will hook up tonight and then again on Tuesday in Lethbridge to conclude the four-game season series. The Warriors have won the first two of this head-to-head series with a home and road win.
The Warriors (40-17-5-2--87) see the Lethbridge Hurricanes (26-38-0-1--53) roll into town tonight. With a three game winning streak, the Warriors will face the Hurricanes twice in the next four days in a home-and-home set. The Warriors have won both match-ups so far this season. An early October season face-off here in Moose Jaw resulted in the home side winning a mid-week game 3-2. At the beginning of a three-game Alberta road swing, the Warriors would pick up a 5-3 road win and go 3-0 on that road trip. Quinton Howden has tallied the most points for the Warriors with four (3G, 1A) in a single game against Lethbridge. With two games in the next four days against the Hurricanes, the Warriors will look continue this season's successful trend. Last season, the Warriors won three of the four meetings between the two clubs and hold an 11-6-1-1 record over the past five years.
The Warriors are 7-2-1 their last ten, collecting 15 of a possible 20 points. The Warriors have scored 228 goals this season and allowed 195. Moose Jaw Warriors have the 2nd most wins (27) on home ice in the WHL and a road record of 13-14-3-1. When leading after the first the Warriors are 21-1-2. That unblemished record was broken by the Hitmen Friday, Jan.13th. And when leading after forty minutes, they hold a record of 27-1-4. The one loss held by the Warriors when leading after 40 minutes was tarnished by the Pats on Dec. 9th, 2011. When the Warriors outshoot their opponent they have a 29-9-3-2 record. The Warriors have a 19-4-5-2 record in one goal games. In 18 games on Saturday night, the Warriors are 13-4-1 and have scored 68 GF and 51 GA.
The Warriors have the seventh ranked power play (24.0%) scoring 69 goals with the man advantage. The club has the ninth best penalty kill (79.9%) in the league. The Moose Jaw Warriors have played in 13 overtime games, (tied) third most in the WHL, with Red Deer, Spokane and Kootenay. They have collected 19 points from games in extra time. The Warriors have 10 players with 10 or more goals this season and three players with 20+ goals and two players have hit the 30+ mark this campaign. The Warriors come in on a three-game winning streak.
Their 40th win of the season came against the Prince Albert Raiders last night at the Art Hauser Centre. A 4-3 come-from-behind win was lead by James Henry, three points and Cam Braes, two goals. The final game in February saw the Warriors pick up another home win. A 5-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels, gives the club their 27th win on home ice. Sam Fioretti had two goals (18th, 19th) for the club in the victory. In the start of back-to-back home games, the Moose Jaw Warriors won 5-2 over the Swift Current Broncos. Kenton Miller continued his torrent goal scoring pace with two more to reach the 30-goal plateau. It was an 8-2 loss on Friday night to the Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre. Cam Braes and Kendall McFaull scored for the Warriors. Luke Siemens and Spencer Tremblay played and each surrendered four goals.
With a single point, Justin Kirsch will achieve the 100 point mark in his WHL career. With the win last night, Warriors head coach Mike Stothers becomes only the fourth coach in club history to win 40 games in a season. Stothers is only the second coach in club history (since 1984-85) to win 40+ games in his rookie season, Steve Young, 44 wins in his first season behind the bench.
Leading Scorers: Braes (75), Henry (67), Howden (60), Kirsch (49) and Cody Beach (47)
The Warriors, including tonight, have eight games remaining before the playoffs commence in less than three weeks from now. Five of the remaining eight games are on the road.
The Warriors return home next Saturday to face the Regina Pats, on a special night. The game time is set for 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place. Get your tickets, http://tickets.mjwarriors.ca/
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