The Moose Jaw Warriors host the red-hot Prince Albert Raiders on Tuesday night for a showdown at Mosaic Place.

The match-up could be a preview of the first round series for the Warriors, who are one point away from clinching first place overall and the Raiders holding down the final wildcard spot.

There’s still a lot to be decided before then, but both teams will be looking to set the tone for a possible series when they hit the ice here in Moose Jaw.

“We need to be ready for the physicality, just like we were with Swift,” said Warriors defenceman Kale Clague. “It’s a huge game, they’re hot right now and we obviously owe them one after the weekend, so if we just play fast, smart hockey, we’ll be fine.”

The Warriors have won back-to-back games going in, while the Raiders have won nine straight games, including beating Moose Jaw, 6-4, last Friday.

Following that loss, the Warriors earned their biggest win of the season on Saturday, knocking off the Swift Current Broncos, 4-2, to all but lock-up the East Division title.

Clague said the Warriors showed in that game that they’re ready to amp their game up for the fast-approaching playoffs.

“We scored when we had our chances and the guys that hit and be physical and play a tougher role on this team, showed that when the physicality got going there,” said Clague. “It was good to see that we answered back after (Dmitri Zaitsev) takes a cheap shot in front of the bench.”

Zaitsev and Brandon Schuldhaus left last Saturday’s game, leaving the Warriors with just four defencemen for the rest of that contest. 16-year-old Matthew Sanders was called up to join the team and Matthew Benson slotted back into the lineup for Sunday’s game.

Clague said it was a challenge to finish Saturday’s game shorthanded, but he felt that the group — which also includes Josh Brook, Jett Woo and Oleg Sosunov — handled it well.

“It was crazy, I don’t think I’ve played with four D since peewee, but it was good, that was one of the better games I’ve had since I’ve been here in Moose Jaw,” he said. “We kept it to short shifts and just went simple and hard.”

The Warriors will host the Raiders at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. The Pre-Game Show is on the air at 6:40 p.m. on Country 100.