Playoff hockey is about riding momentum swings and that’s exactly what the Moose Jaw Warriors did in Game 2 on Saturday night.

After falling behind 2-1 in the second period, the Warriors scored two goals in the final 1:33 of the period to retake the lead and eventually go onto a 5-3 win over the Saskatoon Blades at Mosaic Place.

The win gives the Warriors a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first round series.

“It was electric,” Warriors forward Brayden Yager said. “It was a hard fought battle and in our second period, at the end, we bounced back really hard, did a really good job and came up with the win.”

Yager scored a shorthanded goal just 20 seconds into the second period and then tied the game at 2-2 with 1:33 left in the middle frame.

The 16-year-old forward finished with two goals and three points in the win.

“We definitely don’t want to get too high, but we’re really pumped about this win, it was a really character win for us,” Yager said.

Denton Mateychuk added a pair of assists and now has four through two games in the series.

Lucas Brenton, Riley Niven and Calder Anderson also scored in the win.

After skating to a 5-1 win over the Blades in Game 1, the Warriors were expecting a push back from Saskatoon, but were pleased with how they handled the pressure.

“We pushed back right away,” Warriors assistant coach Scott King said. “It was a game in the middle half there it seems like the momentum shifts were going back and forth, we responded.”

After a scoreless opening period, Yager got a bounce off a Blade and into the net for a shorthanded goal just 20 seconds into the second.

Saskatoon responded with just under six minutes left in the middle frame when Brandon Lisowsky buried a rebound.

Less than two minutes later, Vaughn Watterodt gave Saskatoon their first lead of the series.

The Warriors answered back with 1:33 left in the period when Yager rifled a shot from the point past Saskatoon goalie Nolan Maier.

Moose Jaw swung momentum fully in their favour when Brenton scored with just four seconds left in the second and gave the Warriors a 3-2 lead heading into the third.

The back-and-forth game continued to start the third period, but the Warriors extended their lead as Niven jammed home a rebound to make it a two-goal lead with less than seven minutes to play.

Saskatoon cut the lead back down to one with Lisowsky’s second of the game with 45 seconds left.

Anderson gave the Warriors some insurance with an empty net goal with 41 seconds left.

Carl Tetachuk made 28 saves in the win for Moose Jaw, while the Warriors outshot Saskatoon 37-31 on the night.

Neither team capitalized on the power play with the Warriors finishing the night 0-for-6 and Saskatoon going 0-for-4.

King said the Warriors are ready for a push back from the Blades in Saskatoon for Games 3 and 4.

“We know they’re going to come out in the first period, they’re going to look to get a couple and try and build a lead,” he said.

“We don’t take a backseat to anybody, we got a group and a mentality that we’re going to be a hard team to play against and we’re not scared of the situation.”

The Warriors and Blades face-off on Tuesday and Wednesday for Games 3 and 4 at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.