Both teams left plenty of blood and sweat on the ice on Saturday night at Mosaic Place.

The Moose Jaw Warriors skated to a commanding 4-2 win over the Swift Current Broncos in front of a packed house for the seventh annual “Snowbirds Night", moving Moose Jaw three points in front of Swift Current for top spot in the Western Hockey League.

Hometown boy Branden Klatt scored twice in the win for Warriors, while Justin Almeida added a goal and three points.

A tight, fast, emotional and entertaining game was expected between the two East Division rivals and that’s exactly what fans got for 60 minutes.

Five minutes into the game, Warriors forward Vince Loschiavo dug the puck from the right Broncos wall to the point for Oleg Sosunov, who put a shot on net that trickled past Stuart Skinner and sat on the goal line, Klatt crashed the net and tapped in his fourth goal of season to open the scoring.

Moose Jaw added to their lead at 16:20, while working on the power play, as Almeida controlled the puck on top of the right circle and found a seam to the left circle for Brett Howden and the Captain quickly moved the puck to the goal line for Jayden Halbgewachs, who charged the net and lifted a back hand past Skinner for his WHL-leading 67th goal.

The emotional battles continued in the second period as the teams battled up and down the ice.

At 7:36, Barrett Sheen came across the Swift Current left line and set up Almeida on the right wing for a quick shot that beat Skinner glove side. It was Almeida’s 41st goal and gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead.

Almeida’s goal also chased Skinner from the game, as the Broncos starting goalie allowed three goals on 21 shots.

The Broncos pushed hard to start the third period, as they looked desperate to get back in the game and just over two minutes into the period, they got some life with a goal from Kaden Elder.

Just moments later, Sheen was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for charging. During the ensuing power play, the Warriors went down 5-on-3, but were able to kill off the entire man-advantage for the Broncos, gaining a big momentum boost.

As the battles continued throughout the remainder of the game. the Warriors found some insurance at 11:03, Almeida poked the puck away from the Broncos high in their zone and it came down the left boards to Tristin Langan, who skated to the goal line and then fed Klatt inside the left circle where he one-timed the puck over Joel Hofer for his second of the game.

Swift Current didn’t fade away and on the power play in the final three minutes of regulation they pulled their goalie to make it a 6-on-4, Colby Sissons let a shot go from the point that was deflected by Beck Malenstyn to make it a two-goal game again.

In the final moments, the Warriors held their ground and didn’t allow much for the Broncos and Moose Jaw skated to the 4-2 win.

Brody Willms made 21 saves to backstop the Warriors to the victory.

Moose Jaw was 1-for-8 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.

The win moves the Warriors record to 50-15-1-2 and marks the first time in franchise history that they reached the 50-win milestone.  It also give them a three-point lead on Swift Current for top spot in the East Division.

Moose Jaw’s busy weekend wraps up on Sunday with an afternoon tilt against the Brandon Wheat Kings at Mosaic Place. Catch all the action on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart Pre-Game Show at 3:40 p.m. Tickets are available at mjwarriors.ca or at the Mosaic Place Box Office.