Not all wins are created equal. Friday night’s win in Regina was a massive win for the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Jayden Halbgewachs scored with 53 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Warriors to a 3-2 win over the Pats at the Brandt Centre.

“It was a good game and Regina threw a lot of chances at us as we threw them back at them,” said Halbgewachs.  “We played very well defensively and took advantage of our opportunities and it was a hard win to come out with, but we were able to bear down and did it.”

The win came without captain Brett Howden in the lineup for the Warriors, who missed the game with an upper body injury suffered at Monday’s Canada/Russia Series game.  Moose Jaw was also missing top-four defencemen Josh Brook and Dmitri Zaitsev.

“You have to win all different ways on the road and be able to be patient and our skill paid off in the end with Jayden having a real good night using his speed,” said Head Coach Tim Hunter.

The Warriors have now won four straight games and seven of their last eight. They also extended their lead on top of the East Division to three points over Swift Current and four over Regina. 

Halbgewachs finished with two goals in the win as he scored in the first minute of the second period and last minute of the third period.  Noah Gregor assisted on both of Halbgewachs' goals.

Tristyn DeRoose’s first goal as a Warrior opened the scoring in the first period when he banged home a puck just before the midway point of the opening frame.  He followed that up with two big blocked shots during a strong opening period for the Ceylon, Sask. product.

The Warriors would have walked away with the win without some key saves from goalie Brody Willms, who came away with 31 saves, including 22 over the final two periods.

“The reason we’ve had success on the road has been defending well and our goaltending and we did a good job of that tonight,” said Hunter.

The Warriors took a 2-0 lead on Halbgewachs’ goal to open the second period, but the Pats came charging back and just 28 seconds later, overage forward Matt Bradley had a rebound find its way past Willms to cut the lead back down to one.

Less than three minutes after that, Pats captain Sam Steel blasted a one-timer on the power play that rocketed top shelf to tie the game at 2-2.

The two teams tightened up after the three-goal flurry to open the period and played a tight defensive game throughout the next 35 minutes.

Each side had close chances to move in front, but Willms and Pats goalie Tyler Brown were there for a big stop.  Brown finished with 27 saves in the loss.

Just as the game moved into the final minute, the Warriors broke over the Regina line and Noah Gregor found Halbgewachs streaking across the slot and he lifted a shot back across over the shoulder of Brown to put Moose Jaw in front.

“Getting a goal late in the third is huge for our confidence and its tough on Regina to come back and get a goal, so it was the perfect time of game to get it and our team is happy about that win,” said Halbgewachs, who grew up just outside of Regina in Emerald Park.

The game wasn’t over however, as Warriors forward Justin Almeida sent a puck over the glass with 16 seconds remaining, but the Warriors held off the Pats in the dying seconds for the win.

The Warriors and Pats will now meet for a return engagement on Sunday afternoon at Mosaic Place.  The Pre-Game Show is on the air at 3:40 p.m. on Country 100.

“It’s going to be another close game just like its been all year and in the past few years, so it’s going to be the same type of game and who ever bears down in the third is going to come out with the win,” said Halbgewachs.