Seven of Moose Jaw’s 18 skaters Friday weren’t even born the last time the Warriors beat the Saskatoon Blades in a W-H-L playoff game, but two of them opened the scoring and notched the winning goal while a third assisted on both those goals and was all over the ice as the home team trimmed the Bridge City Bunch 5-1 to open the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final.

Eighteen-year-old Atley Calvert gets credit for the first goal of the series while 17-year-old Jagger Firkus scored a lacrosse-style goal on a power play to give Moose Jaw a 2-0 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. After being swept by the Blue and Gold in a 2019 opening round set, the Warriors skated away with a post-season win over the Blades for the first time since March 31, 2003…more than 19 years ago. In addition, dominant 17-year-old defenceman Denton Mateychuk had two assists as Moose Jaw killed off two first period Saskatoon power play chances, matching the goals they got in the opening frame. From there, the Warriors were the better team, out-shooting the Bridge City Bunch 36-19 and allowing only Josh Pillar to beat Carl Tetachuk in the Moose Jaw goal. Game 2 of the series goes Saturday night at Mosaic Place at 7 o’clock with CJWW’s broadcast beginning at 6:30. Following is the official game summary and Les Lazaruk’s post-game interview with head coach Brennan Sonne…..

Saskatoon Blades 1 at Moose Jaw Warriors 5 – Status: Final
Friday, April 22, 2022 – Mosaic Place – Moose Jaw, SK

Saskatoon 0 1 0 – 1
Moose Jaw 2 1 2 – 5

1st Period-1, Moose Jaw, Calvert 1 (Rysavy, Mateychuk), 10:02. 2, Moose Jaw, Firkus 1 (Yager, Mateychuk), 14:56 (PP). Penalties-Brenton Mj (high sticking), 7:17; Rysavy Mj (tripping), 10:28; Crnkovic Sas (tripping), 13:41; Schneider Sas (interference), 15:09.

2nd Period-3, Saskatoon, Pillar 1 (Wright, Molendyk), 1:18. 4, Moose Jaw, Wanner 1 (Korczak, Alarie), 11:21. Penalties-Watterodt Sas (roughing), 15:43.

3rd Period-5, Moose Jaw, Kaddoura 1 (Firkus, Wanner), 4:49. 6, Moose Jaw, Korczak 1 (Alarie), 8:54. Penalties-Calvert Mj (delay of game), 0:55; Jordan Mj (tripping), 6:07; Niven Mj (slashing), 15:16; Watterodt Sas (roughing), 17:26; Wanner Mj (roughing), 17:26.

Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 6-8-5-19. Moose Jaw 12-9-15-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 5; Moose Jaw 1 / 3.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Maier (26 shots-21 saves); Chadwick (10 shots-10 saves). Moose Jaw, Tetachuk (19 shots-18 saves).
A-3,276
Referees-Aydon Brown (85), Troy Murray (34).
Linesmen-Ryan Lundquist (106), Alex Clarke (134).