By capturing three out of four points on the weekend, the Moose Jaw Warriors start the week still in first place in the WHL East Division.
The tribe couldn't hold onto a two goal third period lead on Friday and lost 3-2 in overtime to the Regina Pats, they were able to rebound with a 4-1 win over Kelowna Saturday.
Assistant coach Trevor Weisgerber says they were happy with the way they came out Saturday after suffering a tough loss the night before.
"We played a pretty simple 60 minutes of hockey, we did things the right way. We kept things out of the middle of the ice, and we generated plenty of offense off little plays like chips, and defensively we did a good job of keeping them to the outside."
Special teams played a huge impact in Saturday game, as the Warriors were able to score all four of their goals on the power play. Andrew Johnson had one of the goals and says everything was clicking the way it's supposed too.
"We were keeping it simple. We were finishing our routes simple on the power play and most importantly we were outworking them. The power play's not going to success if you're not outworking them and that's what we did."
Shane McColgan scored a nice shorthanded goals for the Rockets, and says throughout the game they had a tough time handling the size of the Warriors.
"They have some big bodies, I think they were hitting us pretty well and closing us off the wall and not giving us much time in the neutral zone to make plays. They trapped us pretty well, they're just a good solid two way team."
Johnson says in the win Saturday they stuck to their game plan, which included the strong physical game that McColgan referred to. "That's part of our identity. When team's come in here we want to make it as hard as we can, we stuck to it and it paid off."
Moose Jaw's record is 20-9-3-1, and they sit three points up on the Saskatoon Blades for top spot in the division. The tribe will practice throughout the week as they prepare for Friday's game against the Blades in the Bridge City.
The two division rivals have had some great games throughout the year, and Weisgerber says they're expecting another hard fought game on the weekend.
"It's actually been pretty exciting playing those guys this year, and last year when I was around. It's always a great hockey game and the atmosphere is always good," said Weisgerber. "I can't see anything being different on Friday, those games that we play those teams we want to go out and make a statement."
The tribe also has a four point edge on Brandon in the division, they trail the Edmonton Oil Kings by one point for top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Sunday WHL scores...
Brandon 3 v 4 Calgary
Kamloops 4 v 8 Regina
Prince Albert 5 v 0 Red Deer
Portland 0 v 3 Tri City
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