The Warman Wildcats are moving on in the Saskatchewan Male U18AAA playoffs after a pair of dominant wins over the Prince Albert Mintos last weekend.
On Friday,March 18 they hosted the Mintos at the Legends Centre.
The Wildcats opened the scoring when Brody Mortensen’s slapshot from the point was tipped in by Jeter Korte seven minutes into the game.
Connor Gabriel added to Warman’s lead with a powerplay marker with nine minutes left in the second period.
Wildcats captain, Brody Mortensen scored one of the more spectacular goals of the year on a diving wraparound goal with five minutes left in the period.
The Wildcats were not done as Dustin Renas took the puck from outside the faceoff circle, moved into the slot and wired a wrist shot into the back of the net with 54 seconds left in the period.
The two teams exchanged goals in the third period.
Rhett Deknowy scored a powerplay goal early in the period.
Ashton Tait scored Prince Albert’s lone marker with 13 minutes left in the game.
The Wildcats then shutdown the Mintos for the 5-1 win. For the Warman fans the result was very satisfying after the close overtime nailbiters in the first two games of the series.
The Wildcats were looking to clinch the series when they travelled up Highway 11 to play the Mintos on Sunday, March 20.
For the first two periods it was a back and forth struggle.
Nate Misskey opened the scoring for Prince Albert with a powerplay goal.
Brody Mortensen responded with a goal with 13 minutes left in the period with assists from Connor Gabriel and Mason Bueckert.
Jacob Cossette restored the Mintos’ lead a minute later.
Brody Mortensen scored his second of the game on an unassisted powerplay marker with 32 seconds left in the period.
The third period belonged to the Wildcats as Rylan Pearce scored a powerplay goal early in the period and Jaydon Jessiman added to the lead with 7:55 left in the game. Mason Bueckert’s empty net goal sealed the game.
The 6-3 victory clinched the opening playoff series.
With the win the squad moves on to play the Saskatoon Blazers. Game one is scheduled for March 26 at the Rod Hamm Arena in Saskatoon. Game two will be at the Legends Centre on Wednesday, March 30. Game three is back at the Rod Hamm Arena on Saturday, April 2.
The two teams were second and third in regular season standings.
Head-to-head they were as close as two teams can get. In four games played they each had an outright win and the other two games went to extra time. Warman had a shoot-out win, while the Blazers had an overtime win in the last game they played. Goals for and against are 14-13 in favour of the Blazers.
In the other U18AAA series the Notre Dames Hounds are playing the Regina Pat Canadians.