The Warriors ended the night going 4 for 7 on the power play while the Rockets were 0 for 5 with the extra man. I thought the officiating staff missed a lot of calls that could have given the Rockets a few more power play chances of their own. But in saying that, if you get those chances you still need to capitalize on them.
Rookie d-man Jesse Lees is going to be an exciting player in the future. His end to end rush in the third period, which included two nice moves inside the Warriors zone, was only snuffed out by a nice left pad save by Warriors goaltender Luke Siemens. Siemens also made a nice right pad save against Jessey Astles in the second period when the 18 year-old went wide on a defenseman and found himself one-on-one with the Warriors goaltender.
You have to give Rockets d-
man Mitchell Chapman credit for fighting Warriors d-man Dylan McIIrath in the first period. The 19 year-old McIIrath is not only big, 6'5, 215, but had 478 career penalty minutes heading into the game. Chapman stood in there against a player that is awfully familiar with his gloves off.
Shane McColgan scored his 9th goal of the season and second in three games with a nice shot, shorthanded, that beat Warriors goaltender Luke Siemens high to the glove hand side. The 18 year-old also got into a second period scrap with Warriors forward Sam Fioretti. Unfortunately McColgan received an instigator penalty and was lost to the team for 17 minutes. When you want to manufacture offense, McColgan isn't the guy you want in the box for an extended period of time.
I was interested to see what Kelowna resident Cody Beach brought to the table. It must have been a bad night as I didn't noticed him at all.
Both teams played without Team Canada hopefuls Brett Bulmer and Quinton Howden. Both are attempting to crack the WJ lineup.
I expressed my feelings about Mosiac Place on Twitter, but if you don't follow me I will express it here. The new home of the Warriors is spectacular. It really is. It has to be one of the best buildings in the East. As one scout told me, "It looks like this building should be in the Western Conference". Every aspect of it had me shaking my head in amazement. The curling area is wicked and I don't curl. This is no Mickey Mouse arena. This is big league. The residents of Moose Jaw should be extremely proud. I will post pictures of Mosiac Place on Sunday.
After the game the Rockets bused to Regina where they will spend the next five nights. I am not sure what the teams plans are on Sunday, but I will be making my way down to the Brandt Centre to watch the Regina Pats host the Kamloops Blazers.
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