Brayden Yager's Moose Jaw Warriors lost their opening game of the Memorial Cup 5-4 to the host Saginaw Spirit.
While the outcome was less than ideal for the Warriors' hopes of finishing atop the round robin tournament and advancing to the championship game, Yager's performance was a huge plus as he nearly led the Warriors to a comeback.
This game started ugly. The Spirit led 4-0 before the midway point of the second period. The shots on goal were just as lopsided, with the Warriors being outshot 25-9 at one point in the second period.
The Warriors woke up in the final two minutes of the second period, and Yager led the charge. He struck first with a one-timer with 1:49 remaining in the period:
Brayden Yager gets us on the board!#MemorialCup | #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/OtNwcjLy26
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) May 25, 2024
With this being the Warriors' first time making the Memorial Cup, Yager's goal was the Warriors' first Memorial Cup goal in the franchise's 44-year history. Pretty special.
Yager's teammate Denton Mateychuk made it a two-goal game 37 seconds later, then Yager cut the Spirit's lead to one goal with 14 seconds left in the period after a give-and-go with Mateychuk:
Brayden Yager pulls us within one!#MemorialCup | #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/z3dUd2AY51
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) May 25, 2024
That second goal began with a play from Yager too, hitting a Spirit player behind the net to force a turnover. That physicality from Yager's perhaps even more encouraging than the goal, at least when it comes to Yager's pro potential.
Saginaw regained the two-goal lead early in the third period. Yager appeared to get an assist on a Jagger Firkus goal midway through the third, but the goal came back for being offside. Yager then set up Matthew Savoie for a six-on-five goal with 2:47 remaining to again cut the Spirit's lead to one goal:
Savoie with a Snipe to bring us back within 1! #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/mrbDLyHi6P
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) May 25, 2024
Yager was one of the Moose Jaw players remaining on the ice for the six-on-five situation in the final minutes, but the Warriors were unable to complete the rally.
Yager recorded five of the Warrior's 26 shots, one shy of Savoie for the team lead. The league also tracks a metric called "dangerous shots" that's subjective and essentially a measure of grade A shots -- not to be confused with the NHL's high-danger shots, which involves a defined area of the ice. Four of Yager's five shots on goal were considered "dangerous shots," tied for the most on the team.
Despite the loss, Yager was named the top performer of Friday's opening day of the tournament.
Moose Jaw's next game of the tournament is on Monday against the OHL champion London Knights.
