Saskatoon, Sask. – The Moose Jaw Warriors’ offence couldn’t crack the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday night, as they were shutout 2-0 at SaskTel Centre.
“It was definitely a game that we could have won, we were in it right until the end,” Warriors associate coach Scott King said. “It’s disappointing because it felt like a very winnable game.”
Warriors goalie Jackson Unger turned away 30 of 31 shots in the loss, while Evan Gardner stopped all 20 shots that Moose Jaw threw on the Saskatoon net.
“I thought we were a little bit too perimeter in the offensive zone, didn’t challenge enough inside and be dangerous,” King said. “We had some chances and some decent looks, but just didn’t get them to go.”
The two sides were scoreless through the first 40 minutes, but Rowan Calvert got Saskatoon on the board only 47 seconds into the third on the power play.
Moose Jaw pushed for the equalizer late in the game, however, Ben Riche sealed the game for the Blades with an empty net goal with 1:57 to play.
The Warriors finished the night 0-for-5 on the power play, while Saskatoon went 1-for-6 in the win.
“At the end of the day, the power play let us down tonight,” King said. “They make it tough on entries, they stack the blue line and make you slide pucks in, but the problem is you’ve got to be willing to go get it and win battles.”
The Warriors will return to game action coming up on Tuesday night when they host Berkly Catton and the Spokane Chiefs at the Hangar.