Warriors advance to first WHL final in 18 years with OT win over Blades

SASKATOON — Lynden Lakovic scored 36 seconds into overtime to lift the Moose Jaw Warriors past the Saskatoon Blades 3-2 and into the Western Hockey League finals on Tuesday.

It's the first time in 18 years that the Warriors will play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup and they will face the Portland Winterhawks, with Game 1 set for Friday.

Ethan Semeniuk and Jagger Firkus also scored for Moose Jaw, which came back from a 3-2 deficit in the best-of-seven third-round series. Jackson Unger made 37 saves.

Easton Armstrong and Vaughn Watterodt replied for Saskatoon, which got 22 stops from Evan Gardner in net.

Firkus initially broke a 1-1 tie at 10:13 of the third period before Watterodt knotted the contest with 3:07 remaining in the frame, eventually sending the contest to extra time.

The series went to overtime six times across its seven games, including the last two in which Moose Jaw needed to win the series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2024.