Saskatoon, SK – For two periods, the Moose Jaw Warriors were a step ahead of the Saskatoon Blades, but the script flipped in the third period.
Saskatoon scored three times in the final frame to skate to a 6-3 win over Moose Jaw on Friday night at SaskTel Centre.
“I thought we played hard for 40 minutes, there was mistakes but overall we didn’t give up and we played hard and then in the third, we just came out flat, they get one early and we took a backseat,” Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk said.
“You live and you learn from that.”
The loss was the first in regulation for the Warriors since Feb. 21, ending an eight-game point streak.
The Blades now lead the season series between the two sides 3-2 heading into a rematch on Saturday night at the Hangar.
“The first 40 minutes was a fast, high-paced game, physical, not a lot of time-and-space out there, especially around home plate, for the 40 minutes, we played a good game, we liked our road game, but we just seemed to fall apart in the final 20,” Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said.
Mateychuk had a goal and three points in the loss on Friday, moving him to 211 points in his Western Hockey League career, which puts him second on the Warriors’ all-time points list for defencemen. He’s now just two points from passing Nathan Paetsch for the franchise record.
The Warriors’ captain said the team will need to play a more complete game when the two sides see each other again in 24 hours.
“We need a solid 60 minutes, that’s what we’ve got to start with, be our mindset, but they’re in the exact same boat as us, they played tonight and they’ve got to travel to us, so there’s no excuses, we have to go out there and play,” he said.
The Warriors silenced the Saskatoon crowd early in the game when Mateychuk scored just 46 seconds into the game.
A few minutes later, Moose Jaw thought it had made it 2-0 with a power play goal, but the whistle was blown early, keeping it a one-goal lead.
The Blades swung momentum in their favour when Brandon Lisowsky tied the game with 6:51 gone in the first.
With the Warriors on the penalty kill in the final minute of the first, Atley Calvert broke away from the Blades and scored shorthanded for his 45th goal of the season with 25 seconds left in the period.
Saskatoon found a way to answer back when Alexander Suzdalev scored with just four seconds to go to tie the game at 2-2 after one.
The Warriors again started strong in the second period when Jagger Firkus tapped home his 51st of the season just 2:10 into the frame.
Saskatoon quickly responded only three minutes later when Tyler Parr snapped it past Jackson Unger to make it a 3-3 game after two.
The Blades picked up their first lead of the game 2:59 into the third period when Easton Armstrong tapped it home at the side of the net.
That swung the momentum in the Blades’ favour and then back-to-back goals from Suzdalev and Lisowsky only 1:27 apart midway through the period sealed the win for Saskatoon.
The Warriors were outshot, 42-26 overall, in the game, including 18-5 in the third period.
Moose Jaw finished 0-for-4 on the power play, while going 2-for-3 on the penalty kill with a shorthanded goal.
These two sides will meet for the final time in the regular season on Saturday night at the Hangar in Downtown Moose Jaw. Get your tickets at mjwarriors.ca.