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Lethbridge, AB — The Moose Jaw Warriors fell behind the eight-ball and couldn’t claw their way back on Wednesday night.
The Warriors lost their third straight, falling 6-3 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the ENMAX Centre.
“The chances were definitely there and obviously you’re never happy when you lose, but I thought there was a lot to build off in this game,” Warriors associate coach Scott King said.
Jagger Firkus scored a pair of goals, while Matthew Savoie had the other in the loss. Brayden Yager picked up a pair of helpers for the Warriors.
King said the Warriors made some costly mistakes that were too much to overcome.
“Structurally as a group it was okay, it was just some individual mistakes that led to turnovers and opportunities for them and they were opportunistic tonight,” he said.
“It was another story of we left a lot on the table, so disappointing, but I thought we played a hard game.”
The Hurricanes opened the scoring on a goal from Leo Braillard just 1:15 into the game, but the Warriors answered right back when Firkus scored his 42nd of the season only 1:25 later.
Lethbridge took a 2-1 lead just before the midway point of the first on a goal from Tristen Doyle.
The Hurricanes extended their lead in the first minute of the second period when Doyle picked up his second of the game only 29 seconds into the frame.
Only 3:13 later, Logan Wormald made it a 4-1 lead for the Hurricanes.
The Warriors started their push back when Savoie scored on the power play with 6:02 gone in the second for his 18th of the season.
Firkus picked up his 43rd of the season with 7:20 left in the third to pull the Warriors back within one, but it Miguel Marques would score for Lethbridge later in the frame to make it a 5-3 game after two.
Braillard’s second of the game came midway through the third and provided the insurance for the Hurricanes.
Evan May allowed four goals on 17 shots before being replaced by Jackson Unger, who stopped 13-of-15 shots in relief.
The Warriors finished 2-for-6 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill in the game.
It’s been a tough start to the eight-game road trip for the Warriors, who have dropped the first two games in Lethbridge and Swift Current.
“Disappointing to lose three [in a row] now, but we’ve got a good team, we’re a hungry group and we’re going to bounce back,” King said.
The loss puts Moose Jaw’s record at 34-19-0-2 on the season.
The Warriors will now look to get back on track with six straight games in the U.S. Division, starting on Friday against the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash.