The Moose Jaw Warriors pulled off a hard fought win over the Swift Current Broncos on Friday night.

Ryder Korczak scored the game-winner in the third period as Moose Jaw beat Swift Current, 4-3, at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

Korczak said the game was a battle.

“Sometimes you don’t have the touch and it’s time to put on the work boots and that’s what we did tonight,” he said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got the two points.”

With the win, the Warriors move to six points back of the Saskatoon Blades for third place in the Eastern Conference and are now seven points clear of the fifth place Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The Warriors were outshot, 39-24, in the game, but found a way to capitalize when they had the chance.

Jackson Unger put together a solid performance in the Warriors’ net, making 36 saves in the win.

“He did a heck of a job,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said. “He battled hard, got to the top of his paint, made some big saves, especially late.”

The Warriors led throughout the game, but the Broncos kept pushing back. With Moose Jaw up by one late, Swift Current had a five-on-three, but the Warriors were able to get the kill to seal the win.

“They did a good job of creating chances, they had a lot of shots, they played real hard and it was a hard fought game,” Burnett said.

Tate Schofer opened the scoring for the Warriors late in the first period as he found a rebound to score his third of the season.

Swift Current responded early in the second when Caleb Wyrostok scored just 3:10 into the period to tie the game.

The Warriors came right back, however, as Martin Rysavy stole the puck and rifled home his eighth of the season only 1:04 later to retake the lead.

Brady Birnie would pull Swift Current back even with a nice shot midway through the second period.

Moose Jaw found a way to respond again, Atley Calvert snapped home his team-leading 34th goal of the season with 2:05 left in the second to restore the one-goal lead for the Warriors heading into the third.

Calvert’s goal also set a Warriors’ franchise record for most goals by a Moose Jaw-born player, breaking the mark set by David Bararuk in the 2001-02 season.

Leading by one heading into the third, Korczak scored his 23rd of the year to give the Warriors their first two-goal lead of the game.

The lead was short lived, however, as Josh Filmon scored just 34 seconds later to make it a one-goal game again, but that was as close as the Broncos could get.

“It’s always a battle with these guys,” Korczak said. “They’re fighting for a playoff spot and we’re fighting for home ice advantage, so it’s going to be another great game tomorrow.”

The Warriors and Broncos meet for the second half of the home-and-home set on Saturday night in Swift Current. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. with the pre-game show starting at 6:40 p.m. with the voice of the Warriors' James Gallo on Country 100.