A gutsy effort came up just short for the Moose Jaw Warriors in their preseason opener on Friday night.
The Warriors lost 7-4 to the Regina Pats at Affinity Place to kick-off a neutral site home-and-home set between the two rivals.
“There was all kinds of really good things,” Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said.
“It’s all about taking steps as we move along here, whether it’s day-to-day or period-by-period… I thought we were better in the second than we were in the first and our best period was the third period.”
Second-year Warriors forward Ethan Hughes led the pushback in the third period as Moose Jaw closed the gap to two goals before Regina scored into an empty net to seal the win.
Hughes finished with a goal and two points on the night.
“I felt I progressed throughout the game and will try to come back tomorrow and be better,” Hughes said.
O’Leary said he felt Hughes drove the pace in the third period for the Warriors.
“Hughie was a good example of better as the game went on,” he said. “I thought in the second period, he was real good in the third period, he was one of the best players on the ice and that’s important, he’s a guy that we’re expecting to take a real big step.”
The Warriors dressed a younger lineup for their preseason opener with four 16 year olds and two 15 year olds, who were getting their first taste of WHL action.
O’Leary felt like they handled the pace of the game really well.
“I was real proud of them, just in terms of playing the right way,” he said. “At the end of the day, a lot of this stuff is new for them whether it’s forecheck, tracking details and D zone coverage, all that stuff, it’s a lot to take in.”
Regina jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three goals in a 31-second span.
Connor Schmidt would score a power play goal in the second half of the first to make it a 3-1 game after one.
Just 1:25 into the second, Max Finley ripped home his first of the preseason to make it a one-goal game.
The Pats would answer back with three straight goals to take a 6-2 lead after two.
The Warriors pushed back in the third with Owen Berge tipping home a point shot and then Hughes buried a goal to make it a two-goal game with 10:07 to go in the third.
Moose Jaw outshot Regina 16-8 in the third period as they pushed for a comeback. The Pats ended up outshooting the Warriors, 36-32 overall, in the game.
The Warriors and Pats will now meet for another neutral site game at a sold-out Southland Co-op Centre on Saturday night.