With their backs against the wall, the Moose Jaw Generals are playing some of their best hockey of the season.

The Generals won for the third time in their past four games on Saturday when they knocked off the Yorkton Maulers, 4-1, at Mosaic Place.

"The guys responded, did what they needed to do to get a win and it's a big win for us," said Generals head coach Ray Wareham.

The Generals come out of the weekend sitting eight points behind the Saskatoon Contacts for the final playoff spot in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. Moose Jaw has eight games to play, while Saskatoon has seven, and the two sides meet twice more this season.

"We can only control what we can do and that's take care of ourselves when we play and we know we’re going to need a couple of favours," said Wareham.

The Generals used a late goal from Cody Davis in the first period to open the scoring.

Yorkton was able to tie the game midway through the second on a goal from Carter Dereniwsky, but Steven Kesslering fired a shot into the Maulers' net with 1:11 left in the middle frame to put Moose Jaw back in front.

The Generals used their special teams to ice the game in the third period, starting with a shorthanded goal from Captain Brendan Kemp just 3:06 into the period. 

Evan Sare added a power-play goal 5:32 later to seal the win.

Kemp said this win was the start to February that they're looking for to help the playoff push, "We need to get these games in February," he said. 

"We're pretty motivated, we're pushing to get in, we're working hard in practice and we're coming out for games and the boys are really gelling."

The Generals peppered the Maulers' net in the game, outshooting them 52-32 in the win. Moose Jaw was also 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

"Offensively, we looked all right, but I didn't think we played a lot of attention to detail in the D zone," said Wareham on what the team needs to clean up moving forward.

The Generals will return to the ice on Wednesday for a tough test against the Regina Pat Canadians in the Queen City. Puck drops at 8 p.m. at the Co-Operators Centre.