The Moose Jaw Warriors swept their opening weekend of the regular season, beating the Prince Albert Raiders on back-to-back nights.

The team is walking away happy with how they were able to perform, at times, while still looking for more in other areas.

“(Brody) Willms got a shutout (Saturday) night because we played hard, we were committed to playing the system that we’re trying to play and then tonight, we let that go and thought it would be different and easier at home and we didn’t play hard,” said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter after the game.

“It trickles down the lineup, so I’m looking for leadership from the older players on the team.”

The Warriors won 3-0 in Prince Albert on Friday night and then made their home debut on Saturday with a 7-3 win.

The offence was clicking on all cylinders in Saturday’s win as they were able to strike for the seven goals on 30 shots. However, the Warriors also had some let downs defensively, which led to the three goals and Prince Albert out-shooting Moose Jaw, 24-4, in the third period.

Forward Noah Gregor had a goal and three points in Saturday’s win. He said this weekend was a good base to start from for the Warriors this season.

“Whenever you get a win, you should be happy with the result, but we’ve always got things to work at, especially tonight, they had a lot of zone time in the second and third and had a lot of pressure on us, it was a good thing we had Brody, he played really well for us,” said Gregor.

The Warriors had just four shots in the third period on Saturday, but managed to score three goals to pull away from the Raiders after leading 4-2 after two.  It was a good sign of the skill that this year’s team possesses.

When the Warriors did have breakdowns in Saturday’s game, Willms was there to shut the door with 40 saves in the win.

“They don’t have a highly offensive team, but they had some good chances and if anyone is questioning whether Brody Willms is a number one goalie, (this weekend) answered those questions,” said Hunter.

“Brody is awesome in the net, he’s really calm, doesn’t get out of position too much and makes the first save every time,” added Gregor.

The Warriors will get the next week to work on their game before they have a showdown with the Regina Pats on Friday night at Mosaic Place. Moose Jaw will also host Red Deer on Saturday.