For two periods, the Moose Jaw Warriors struggled to get anything going against the Prince Albert Raiders in Western Hockey League action at the Moose Jaw Events Centre on Tuesday night.
Not just failing to find the back of the net, but even generating chances was an absolute chore for the local squad, and the result showed on the scoreboard.
Only three shots in the first period, nine shots through two. Opportunities would present themselves and the puck would end up high off the glass or thundering off the boards instead of going on net.
But then the third period came along, and things changed dramatically.
The Warriors completely tilted the ice in their favour -- even outshooting Prince Albert 9-0 according to the WHL website -- but would be unable to find the tying goal on their way to dropping a 2-1 decision.
“I thought we were just hesitant in the first period, both with the puck and without the puck,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary, who rejoined the team with defenceman Marek Howell and forward Lynden Lakovic after coaching at the World U17 Hockey Chellenge. “If we’re playing our best, we’re forechecking hard and creating turnovers and that leads to possession, but I thought we were slow to check, we weren’t finishing on top and we were losing races back inside and as a result we had a tough start.”
Prince Albert took advantage of the Warriors struggles by scoring the game’s opening goal 8:05 into the proceedings and taking advantage of their second power play in the process. Keaton Sorensen finished off some solid puck movement in the zone with a quick one-timer from Landon Kosior to give Prince Albert the early lead.
The Raiders looked to have taken a 2-0 edge minutes later, but a short review showed Prince Albert was offside on the zone entry, with the goal called back as a result.
Things didn’t improve from there for Moose Jaw in the first period, as they had a single shot through the first 15 minutes, with their second shot a simple long-range dump-in that drew a Bronx cheer from the 2,000 or so fans in attendance. All told, the Raiders would outshoot the Warriors 13-3 in the period.
The second period started out much the same as the first, and Carson Latimer would make the Warriors pay five minutes into the frame, chipping the puck up to himself in the Warriors' zone, going in on a partial break on Jackson Unger and putting shot home to make it 2-0 Prince Albert.
Moose Jaw struggled to get anything going with consistency until receiving their first power play with five minutes remaining in the second. That led to Denton Mateychuk getting his team on the board, finding a bit of space in front of P.A.’s Max Hildebrand and popping a shot into the back of the net.
It was a valuable goal in that it finally swung momentum in the Warriors favour, something that would be seen and then some in the final period.
“I think as the game progressed, we had o-zone possession time, but there was a stretch in the second period where we weren’t getting anything to the net and were just playing on the outside,” O’Leary said. “So I think we were over-thinking it a little bit and maybe that’s credit to P.A. as well, they do a good job inside home plate and make it difficult to get inside.”
Prince Albert rarely escaped their zone in the final period, and the Warriors had a perfect opportunity to tie things up late thanks to a Raiders penalty and Unger pulled for 6-on-4 power play. Matecyhuk had the best look on the man advantage just as it expired, but put a shot at the wide-open net off the post with a minute remaining in the game.
Seeing his troops change the game so heavily in the final period had O’Leary wondering what could have been.
“In the third period, I thought it wasn’t even close,” he said. “We got back to playing our game, but the hockey gods decided we didn’t deserve it after that start and we werent able to capitalize… It would have changed the game for sure if we played all three periods like that, and you give confidence to yourself and your team if you start fast and get rolling downhill. But tonight, with the start we had, it was an uphill climb and it’s hard to chase any game, especially when they get the lead.”
Unger ended up making 20 saves on the night while Hildebrand had a 17-save showing in the win.
The Warriors are now 11-8-0-0 on the season and have fallen six points back of Saskatoon for fourth place in the Eastern Conference while sitting tied with the Calgary Htimen and a point up on Lethbridge.
There is good news on the horizon, as it’s expected overage forward Ryder Korczak will be in the line-up for the Warriors’ Hockey Fights Cancer game on Friday night when Moose Jaw hosts Swift Current at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“II think guys are starting to get healthier, and obviously getting Ryder back, there will be some competition for spots in the line-up and that can be good to get rid of any complacency that might be setting in when you don’t have a lot of bodies,” O’Leary said.
Game time Friday is 7 p.m.
