A preview of the WHL's Eastern Conference Final between the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors.
The top teams in the Eastern Conference will battle it out as the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors look to book their spot in the WHL Final. The two teams are a combined 16-2 this postseason and have continued their impressive goal-scoring ability from the regular season. Based on the season series, this should be a fun matchup that includes plenty of highlight reel moments and, potentially, high goal totals.
The main focus heading into this series is which offence will prevail. Eleven players are currently at a point per game or better, with Denton Mateychuk and Jagger Firkus above two points per game. With a combined 89 goals in 18 games, both Jackson Unger and Evan Gardner will be challenged throughout the series to try and halt these two offensive powerhouse over the next few weeks.
Ultimately, this series should come down to special teams. During the regular season, both teams were below 73% on the penalty kill when they faced each other, which could spell disaster in this series. Whichever team is able to step up on the penalty kill should have an advantage, which could, in the end, be the difference between winning and losing the series.
Prediction: Saskatoon in six
Playoff Schedule:
Game 1: Friday, April 26 @ Saskatoon, 7:00 p.m. ST
Game 2: Saturday, April 27 @ Saskatoon, 7:00 p.m. ST
Game 3: Tuesday, April 30 @ Moose Jaw, 7:00 p.m. ST
Game 4: Wednesday, May 1 @ Moose Jaw, 7:00 p.m. ST
*Game 5: Friday, May 3 @ Saskatoon, 7:00 p.m. ST
*Game 6: Sunday, May 5 @ Moose Jaw, 2:00 p.m. ST
*Game 7: Tuesday, May 7 @ Saskatoon, 7:00 p.m. ST
Season Series:
Saskatoon: 3-3-0-0
Moose Jaw: 3-3-0-0
Saskatoon 3 @ Moose Jaw 6 (Mar 16, 2024) Final
Moose Jaw 3 @ Saskatoon 6 (Mar 15, 2024) Final
Saskatoon 4 @ Moose Jaw 3 (Dec 9, 2023) Final
Moose Jaw 2 @ Saskatoon 3 (Nov 17, 2023) Final
Saskatoon 6 @ Moose Jaw 9 (Nov 14, 2023) Final
Moose Jaw 3 @ Saskatoon 1 (Oct 24, 2023) Final
Leading Scorers During Season Series:
Saskatoon Blades:
1) Brandon Lisowsky: 6 GP, 3 G, 5 A, 8 P
2) Egor Sidorov: 6 GP, 4 G, 3 A, 7 P
3) Trevor Wong: 6 GP, 0 G, 7 A, 7 P
4) Easton Armstrong: 5 GP, 4 G, 1 A, 5 P
5) Tanner Molendyk 5 GP, 0 G, 5 A, 5 P
Moose Jaw Warriors:
1) Jagger Firkus: 6 GP, 9 G, 6 A, 15 P
2) Brayden Yager: 6 GP, 2 G, 7 A, 9 P
3) Denton Mateychuk: 6 GP, 2 G, 5 A, 7 P
4) Atley Calvert: 6 GP, 4 G, 2 A, 6 P
5) Brayden Schuurman: 6 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 P
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