After 14 days and thousands of kilometres, the Moose Jaw Warriors ran out of gas in the finale of their seven-game road trip.
The Warriors dropped a 5-3 game to the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd at Scotiabank Saddledome.
“I don’t want to use an excuse, but that was a quick turnaround,” Warriors assistant coach Scott King said.
Moose Jaw knocked off the Red Deer Rebels in a hard fought game on Saturday night and then were back on the ice to end their road trip in Calgary less than 24 hours later.
“This last one, you never know what you’re going to get, but credit to the guys they had a real good trip and they worked,” King said.
The Warriors put together a stellar road trip, finishing 5-2-0-0 over the seven games, which included a five-game winning streak that ended on Sunday.
“It was a good trip, not only the wins but just the players getting a chance to be around each other and that builds chemistry and camaraderie throughout the group,” King said.
“We played some real good hockey, so I’m not taking anything away from the guys, they battled hard.”
It was the Hitmen’s annual Teddy Bear Toss game on Sunday with 16,514 fans packing into the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Moose Jaw was able to quiet the fans early when Atley Calvert scored just 3:29 into the game.
The Hitmen answered only 1:31 later when London Hoilett sent the bears flying on the ice.
When the teams got back out, the Warriors picked up a goal from Brayden Yager later in the opening frame to take a 2-1 lead after one. It was Yager’s 16th goal of the season.
The Hitmen answered early in the second period as Zac Funk scored just 1:01 into the middle frame to tie the game.
Riley Fiddler-Schultz put Calgary in front with just under five minutes to play in the second, but Calvert answered back with his second of the game, and 15th of the season, only 30 seconds later.
Calgary took control of the game in the third period with a pair of power play goals from Carter Yakemchuk just 2:13 apart.
Moose Jaw pushed late with the net empty, but couldn’t cut into the Hitmen’s lead.
“We just had too many unforced errors and the little things that we didn’t do well that caught up with us,” King said.
Jackson Unger made 36 saves in the loss as the Warriors were outshot 41-20 in the game.
Moose Jaw finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Hitmen went 2-for-3.
These two teams will meet for a rematch when the Warriors welcome in the Hitmen for the team’s Teddy Bear & Toque Toss Night this Friday at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.