After an emotional win on home ice on Saturday night, the Moose Jaw Warriors fell flat on Sunday in Saskatoon.
The Warriors scored early, but the Blades answered with four straight goals in a 4-1 win at SaskTel Centre.
“It’s just a learning lesson that you come, you get ready to go off the bus on short rest, there’s no excuses in this league,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said.
The loss drops the Warriors’ record to 4-3-0-0 this season and snapped Moose Jaw’s bid for a third straight win.
The Warriors started quick with Robert Baco banging home his first of the season just 3:58 into the game.
Saskatoon didn’t waste much time responding with Conner Roulette tying the game only four minutes later.
Roulette scored the go-ahead goal for the Blades just three minutes after that and Saskatoon wouldn’t relinquish the lead.
Moose Jaw had opportunities to swing the momentum in their favour during the first period, but Blades goalie Ethan Chadwick made big stops on Cole Jordan and Brayden Yager to keep his team in front.
“The missed opportunities will kill you,” Burnett said. “If we capitalize on those chances, it’s a different game.”
Roulette finished off the natural hat trick with a power play goal early in the second and then Josh Pillar made it a 4-1 game with 9:37 gone in the second period.
That was the end of the night for Warriors goalie Jackson Unger, who was replaced after allowing four goals on 21 shots.
Connor Ungar came on in relief and stopped all 29 shots he faced over the final 30 minutes of the game.
The Warriors pushed back in the third period, but couldn’t swing the momentum their way, finishing the game being outshot 50-17 by the Blades.
Burnett said Saskatoon limited Moose Jaw to a lot of one-and-done attacks in their zone.
“It would have been nice to hold onto some pucks and make them play some harder minutes,” he said. “Credit to them, they did a good job of keeping us to the outside and limiting our shots.”
The Warriors will get a week of practice to regroup before they host the Red Deer Rebels and Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.