The Moose Jaw Generals picked up a massive four points over the weekend as they look to secure second place in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.
After sweeping their two-game series with the Battlefords Stars – winning 5-4 on Saturday and 4-1 on Sunday – the Generals now hold a three-point advantage on the Notre Dame Hounds heading into the final week of the regular season.
“These were a huge four points for us, it was a big weekend for us and we came out strong,” said forward Evan Thomas, who finished with two goals and three points in the two wins for Moose Jaw.
The Generals were able to jump out to an early lead in both games and while the Stars battled back to make it a game on Saturday, Moose Jaw was able to put their foot down in Sunday’s game to roll to their second win of the weekend.
It was a solid return to the win column for the team after suffering an overtime loss to the Blazers in Saskatoon to open the week on Wednesday.
“It was a much better effort as far as managing the puck and taking care of the puck,” said head coach Ray Wareham.
The Stars play a physical-style of hockey and Sunday’s game started to get chippy at times, but the Generals were content to play hard between the whistles and take advantage of the power play opportunities that they received from the Battlefords.
Moose Jaw finished 2-for-10 on the power play in Sunday’s win, while also going 10-for-10 on the penalty kill.
“We saw some guys for us that have tendency to retaliate that didn’t and we ended up getting some power play goals out of it, which has been our issue all year,” said Wareham. “If (the Stars) would just concentrate on hockey, they’d be a better team, but they take way too many penalties, run around trying to hurt guys and our guys responded with a good effort.”
In Saturday’s win, the Generals jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 2:59 into the game on goals from Jake Tremblay and Ahmed Ally, but the Stars were able to eventually tie things up early in the second.
The two sides traded goals late in the second to send the game into the third period tied at 3-3, but Moose Jaw would find the go-ahead markers in the final frame. Dylan Jones scored with 5:28 to go and then added some insurance just under four minutes later.
On Sunday, Austin Miller scored early for Moose Jaw to give them a 1-0 lead, they extended that to 2-0 with a power play goal from Reece Newkirk early in the second.
A shorthanded goal by the Stars’ Adam Beckman made it a one-goal game again just seconds after Newkirk’s goal, but Tyson Manz potted another power play goal for Moose Jaw with 7:53 to go in the second period to make sure the Stars couldn’t build any momentum.
Thomas scored a shorthanded goal midway through the third period to seal the win for Moose Jaw.
“We scored pretty early in both games, like five minutes in, and it really set them down and made sure that they were playing with us and not us playing with them, so that was key,” said Thomas.
Thomas has been rolling since returning from injury at the start of the month, posting at least a point in four of five games, while picking up four goals and six points in three games last week.
He said he was hungry to get back on the ice.
“It was a long injury, so all that energy was building up inside of me and I just really wanted to get back out on the ice,” said Thomas. “We were winning anyways without me, but it’s nice to be back and able to contribute.”
Wareham compared the addition of Thomas after two months away to a trade deadline acquisition just before the playoffs.
“He’s a competitor and it killed him to be out that long,” said Wareham. “It’s nice to have him back and hopefully he can keep rolling.”
The Generals have just two games remaining in the regular season and they’re both good tests heading into the playoffs. They will travel to Saskatoon to face the fifth place Contacts on Thursday and then head to Wilcox for a massive finale against the third place Notre Dame Hounds on Saturday.
Fri, May 17, 8:00 AM
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