It was an emotional roller coaster Friday at Mosaic Place as the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats exchanged blows and the Warriors scored three goals in the second period to skate to a 5-4 win.

The Warriors needed a strong start and were able to get the game’s first goal 36 seconds in, Noah Gregor came in to the neutral zone on the left wing and then tossed the puck cross ice to Nikita Popugaev, who stormed inside the Regina line and blasted a shot past Tyler Brown for his 21st of the year.

The Warriors extended their lead with a power play goal at 6:48, Brett Howden made a short pass to Gregor inside the left circle where he snapped in his 18th.

At the midway point of the period, the Warriors let off the gas pedal and the Pats capitalized scoring four goals in four minutes.

Luc Smith put the Pats on the board at 10:39 and then he deflected a point shot at 11:24 to tie the game at two.  Sam Steel gave the Pats the lead at 14:12 and then at 14:39, Dawson Leedahl chipped the puck over the goal line on a scramble in the Moose Jaw crease.

The Warriors needed a strong start to the second period and they got it when Gregor and Popugaev finished off a nice passing play for the Warriors’ third goal just 12 seconds into the frame.

Regina got into penalty trouble for the rest of the period, giving the Warriors a pair of 5-on-3 power plays.

After failing to score on their first 5-on-3 attempt, the Warriors evened the score at 4-4 when Brayden Burke ripped a shot past Brown.

Just 1:01 after Burke’s goal, Tristin Langan was in the right spot at the right time as he deflected a point shot past Brown to put Moose Jaw back in front 5-4 heading into the third period.

Penalties and stronger defensive play allowed the Warriors to limit the Pats to just seven shots in the second.

Throughout the third period, the teams fought for their opportunities, but both teams played well defensively to take away quality scoring chances.

As the clock counted down, the Pats continued to press, but the Warriors held their ground defensively and were led by the solid play of goalie Zach Sawchenko who made 34 saves to lead the Warriors to a 5-4 win over the East Division leaders.

Gregor finished with two goals and three points, Popugaev had a goal and three points, and Howden grabbed two assists.  Moose Jaw was 2-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

The Warriors and Pats wrap up their weekend home-and-home series Saturday at the Brandt Centre in Regina.  Catch all the action on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart Pre-Game Show at 6:40 p.m.