MOOSE JAW, Sask. - For the first time since the 2008 post-season, the Kootenay Ice are off to the WHL's second round.

They confirmed as much by eliminating the Moose Jaw Warriors 5-4 in Game 6 of their WHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal Sunday night at the Civic Centre.

Matt Fraser was on the last Ice team to get to the Conference semifinal, and his hat trick was instrumental in last night's win. He said it's a nice feeling, moving on.

"It's nice to have it back. It's been something like four years to finally move on to the next series," said Fraser. "You have to give (the Warriors) credit: they didn't shy away from anything. It was a hard-fought game, but it was a good test for us."

Head coach Kris Knoblauch said it wasn't Kootenay's prettiest win, certainly, but he wasn't about to give it back.

"We showed a lot of character," he said, his voice ragged, after the team had spent more than five more hours getting to Moose Jaw than planned because of a bus malfunction (see more, Page 9).

Knoblauch said that, other than Game 1, last night's match was Kootenay's worst of the opening round - individual performances of Fraser, Brayden McNabb (1-1) and Max Reinhart (1-3) aside.

"Right from the first period, even though we had a 3-1 lead, things that we had done so well earlier in the series like backchecking and our forecheck - we were just a step behind. I could tell the guys were a little tired."

Now, there is no Game 7 to worry about.

"It's very good. The players can get some rest, and also for me: I can maybe find my voice again," said Knoblauch. "There's been a lot of use throughout the series, making sure the right guys are out, and so they can hear signals when they're out on the ice."

While the Warriors were the ones playing for their playoff lives, it was the Ice who pressed early. On a broken play 96 seconds in, captain Brayden McNabb found himself alone with the puck in the low slot and his wrist shot rippled the netting behind Thomas Heemskerk.

"The quick start was huge, especially in this building," said McNabb.

He was instrumental in the second goal at 13:52 as well. With the teams skating four-a-side, the big defenceman carried the puck deep in the slot before banking the puck in off Max Reinhart, who had fallen in the crease. The captain showed all kinds of confidence with the puck in the offensive zone all night.

"It was just one of those games where the puck is just on your stick and you're able to do stuff," he said.

Just over a minute later, the teams were still both down a man when Reinhart juggled the puck down the left wing before settling it and dishing to Matt Fraser through the slot, and he made it 3-0.

Warrior Brett Lyon gave the home crowd some much-needed life, depositing a rebound past an outstretched Nathan Lieuwen at 15:35.

Earlier in the period, Lieuwen had helped maintain the Ice lead with a couple of saves on Dane Sebastian Svendsen.

The Warriors used a pair of powerplay goals to draw within spitting distance in the second period.

They first struck five minutes in, when a failed clear up the middle landed on Quinton Howden's stick, and he dashed in to score his fifth of the playoffs.

Fraser restored the two-goal margin at 9:12 by converting on Reinhart's pass on the rush.

Around the middle of the game, Heemskerk made a pair of key saves. On the first, he blockered Cody Eakin's breakaway shot aside, then robbed Steele Boomer of an open net-chance with his paddle.

That allowed Dylan Hood to make it a one-goal game at the 14-minute mark, when he was able to skate out from the corner and rip in a low powerplay shot.

Moose Jaw pressed in the third period, but the Reinhart-Fraser combo struck again at 9:22 to further quiet a surprisingly demure crowd.

"We've played on the same line for the majority of the last two years, and we've got good chemistry with each other," said Fraser. "You throw a guy like Joe Antilla in there, and he creates space for us and creates space for himself, and he's a good passer. He can find the lanes for us."

Antilla had started that play with a no-look pass off the wall in the neutral zone.

Sam Fioretti surprised even himself at 11:57 when his shot from the right dot beat Lieuwen and got his club back into it.

That led to some tense moments to close out the game. With 58 seconds remaining, Heemskerk got to the bench for an extra attacker. The Ice thought they had that figured out with 35 seconds left, when Joey Leach hammered the puck in from centre ice. The only problem was, the play was offside.

The Warriors were able to gain the zone with about 17 seconds remaining and pushed, with Edwards sending a backhander just wide with five seconds.

"You think it's over and then they go down and just about score," said Fraser. "It's nerve-wracking but those are the bounces you have to go through in playoffs."

"In the third period you don't want to watch the clock but you definitely are. It wasn't going down fast enough," said McNabb.

It spelled the end of the WHL careers of Moose Jaw overagers Spencer Edwards, Dylan Hood and Thomas Heemskerk.

"It was a back-and-forth series. It was tough being up and them coming back. Going down 3-2 was tough for our team to realize what was happening," said Heemskerk. "We battled hard (Sunday) but you've got to give Kootenay credit for taking this one."

A former member of the Ice, Heemskerk said the post-game handshake was friendly, if bizarre.

"It's strange anyways, but I have a lot of friends over there and it's part of the game," said Heemskerk.