Edmonton, AB — The start to the Moose Jaw Warriors’ two-game road trip to Alberta didn’t go as planned.
Moose Jaw lost 3-2 to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday night to kick-off its stretch of four games in five nights.
“[Frustrating] is a very good way to describe [the game],” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said after the loss.
“Edmonton might not have many wins, but they work hard and they’re a young group that’s trying to get better and you’ve got to show up every night and against every team in this league.”
The Warriors’ record drops to 24-14-0-1 this season with the loss.
Burnett said Moose Jaw didn’t go to the areas needed to win the game.
“We were happy to play on the outside and obviously that’s not going to work,” Burnett said.
“We weren’t executing very well, you’ve got to be a five-man unit out there and I thought we were a little bit disconnected and it’s just not going to work.”
The Warriors opened the scoring only 1:58 into the game when Harper Lolacher tipped home his ninth of the season.
Edmonton tied the game up later in the opening frame when Noah Boyko finished off a shorthanded two-on-none.
Boyko’s second of the game just over seven minutes into the second period gave the Oil Kings their first lead of the night.
Robert Baco responded for the Warriors only 3:28 later as he picked up a rebound in front of the net and buried his eighth of the season to tie the game.
Edmonton’s Landon Hansen scored the eventual game-winning goal just 2:46 into the third period.
Moose Jaw pushed for an equalizer late, but couldn’t finish on a number of chances around the Oil Kings’ net.
The Warriors outshot the Oil Kings, 31-23, in the loss, while finishing the night 1-for-2 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
“We have to get back to our game, that definitely wasn’t what we played tonight,” Burnett said.
The Warriors will return to the ice coming up on Wednesday night when they finish their midweek road trip in Red Deer against the Rebels. Puck drops at 8 p.m. CST.