The Moose Jaw Warriors struggled early and couldn’t finish late on Tuesday night, dropping a 2-1 game to the Prince Albert Raiders at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“It’s a 60-minute game and playing 20 of it isn’t going to get it done,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said after the loss.
Moose Jaw falls to 11-8-0-0 on the season.
It’s the second straight home loss for the Warriors, who were coming off a 5-1 loss on Saturday to Medicine Hat.
“I was looking for a better reaction coming off that loss last game,” Warriors forward Jagger Firkus said. “It was frustrating, there was a couple of times that we could have put the puck in the back of the net and we didn’t bear down.”
The Warriors were outshot 12-3 in the opening period as the Raiders jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a power play goal from Keaton Sorensen.
Prince Albert extended its lead early in the second period when Carson Latimer broke in and scored just 5:14 into the frame.
Moose Jaw responded late in the second when Brayden Yager set up Denton Mateychuk for his fourth of the season, on the power play, to make it a one-goal game heading into the third.
The Warriors held the Raiders without a shot in the third, outshooting them 9-0, but couldn’t push the puck over the line for the game-tying goal.
“In the second period, we had some point blank opportunities and we just missed the net, and it’s not even just about the miss, it’s about what happens if you put it on net and there’s a save, there are second and third chances that you’re missing out on by missing the original shot,” he said. “It adds up over the course of the game.”
Firkus said the Warriors need to come out of the gate stronger to start games.
“We can’t wait till the third period to get urgent and want to get a goal,” he said. “That’s on the leadership group, myself, there’s lots of chances that I could push myself harder.”
Jackson Unger took the loss, but made some big saves early in the game, finishing with 20 saves. Max Hildebrand picked up the win in Prince Albert’s net, making 17 stops.
The Warriors were 1-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill in the loss.
Moose Jaw will return to the ice on Friday night when they host the Swift Current Broncos for Hockey Fights Cancer Night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.