Tribe trounce Raiders
Win 5-1, move three points behind Raiders
The Moose Jaw Times Herald
In a span of two games in three days, the Warriors have gone from seven points back of the last playoff spot to three points back.
After Tuesday’s strong effort in a 5-1 road win over the Prince Albert Raiders, the Warriors have now climbed back into the playoff race for real, mere days after the dream could have died.
Clearly, the Warrior players still believe they can make the playoffs.
“We could have given up after Saturday’s game (8-5 loss in Brandon), but we came back Sunday with a good effort and, tonight with a must win game, we responded very well,” said Warriors coach Rene Lemire. “If they don’t believe by now, there will be something wrong with them.”
The Warriors openedscoring at 6:18 of the first period when Jason Bast converted a shorthanded opportunity on an odd-man break with Jordan Knackstedt.
“We wanted to focus on the first five minutes,” said Lemire. “When we had the penalty and they were in position to kill it off, and to even score shorthanded, then we knew that the guys were prepared.”
Lemire called the goal a boost on the bench, as the Warriors have had trouble all year killing penalties, were a perfect four-for-four Tuesday.
Knackstedt scored one of his own later in the period to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead. Riley Holzapfel then scored in the second to give the Tribe a 3-0 edge heading into the last 20 minutes.
The Raiders’ Ryan McDonald pulled Prince Albert within two with 10 minutes left but Keith Voytechek and Neal Prokop — with his first WHL career goal — responded with insurance markers.
Travis Ehrhardt picked up three assists in the game and Jason Reese chipped in with two helpers. Goaltender Joey Perricone looks to be back in form, as he made 23 saves in the win.
The most important aspect of winning this game could be found in the focus on the mental aspect of the game.
“We continue to stress on mental preparation because we know they can skate, we know they can play their position and we know they can stickhandle, but we haven’t prepared mentally as well throughout the year to win these key games,” said Lemire.
While the work clearly isn’t over, the Warriors have climbed a long way in the last three weeks. With five games left in the season, the Warriors are putting some serious heat on the Raiders. Lemire will let the club enjoy the moment before getting geared up for a crucial home and home with the Regina Pats this Friday and Saturday.
“We’re not done. We haven’t gotten there yet,” said Lemire. “All we’ve done is help our chances, but we still need to win more games, and we’ll put all our energy into beating Regina Friday.”