For the first time since October 4th, the Richardson Pioneer found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard at the end of regulation Friday night, as they fell 4-3 to the visiting Battlefords North Stars at Crescent Point Place.
"Lots of guys started off moving their feet, and just weren't finding that puck luck, just weren't earning those puck battles and those puck races," said Red Wings assistant coach Willy Mason after the game.
The lack of puck luck was evident in the first period, when Weyburn put 16 shots on Justin Maric in the Battlefords net, but were only able to score once, and that came on a penalty shot awarded to Liam Fitzgerald when he was hauled down on a breakaway.
The penalty shot came just over two minutes after the North Stars had taken the lead in the game when Anthony Campbell beat Angelo Zol with 8:25 left to play in the opening frame.
Fitzgerald would be on a breakaway with 6:12 remaining when he was tripped up, prompting the call for the penalty shot. He would make good on his effort, moving in from the left side across the front of Maric, and beating him on the blocker side.
"I was thinking, I'm really tired, and I was thinking I'm 0-for-1 in my career on penalty shots, so I wasn't too optimistic," Fitzgerald chuckled after the game.
In the second period, the North Stars would again pull ahead as Jace Rask scored 7:20 into the period. Weyburn would need just under five minutes to respond, though, and they would, on the power play, with 7:43 left on the clock.
Chad Lebeau would net his second goal of the season, assisted by Fitzgerald and Josh Karman.
"It was nice, just tying up the game," Lebeau commented. "Coach told me to put pucks on net, so I just did, and it worked."
The tie wouldn't survive the period, though.
The Battlefords would get a power play on a controversial delay of game call, with the puck appearing to have clipped the glass when going out of play, but it was ruled to have cleared the glass completely, resulting in a penalty against Max Chakrabarti. On the ensuing man advantage, Gavin Granger would score on Zol with 1:56 remaining in the middle frame.
In the third the North Stars would then make it a two-goal lead when Jordan Grill scored, making it 4-2. Weyburn would respond late in the period.
Cyprus Smith-Davis scored, with an assist from Jerome Maharaj with 2:56 remaining in the game, and the Red Wings net empty in favour of the extra attacker. Weyburn would put even more pressure on during the dying moments of the game but Maric would keep the puck out despite the flurry of activity, resulting in the 4-3 final.
The Red Wings won't have too long to rebound from the loss. They will be back on the ice against the North Stars tomorrow night at Crescent Point Place. The puck drops in the game at 7 p.m.