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Warriors can't solve Paddock, fall to Raiders despite dominating contest

Moose Jaw carries play for almost entirety of second and third periods but can't find back of net in dropping 2-0 decision
Warriors Prince Albert
A sample of how things went for the Warriors: Cade Hayes beats Paddock in second period action, but a defenceman is there to kick the puck away.
The Moose Jaw Warriors did just about everything right on Thursday night against the Prince Albert Raiders in Western Hockey League action in the East Division Hub.

That might sound like a strange assessment after taking a 2-0 loss, but it’s also pretty much the only way to look at it.

The Warriors poured 45 shots on Raiders goaltender Max Paddock but couldn’t find a way to solve the overage backstop, and that’s an understatement. Moose Jaw had chance after chance, opportunity after opportunity, threw everything they could at the Raiders net through the second and third periods but had nothing to show for it except hit posts and more saves for Paddock.

“It’s a lesson in life and in sport, the hardest thing to do sometimes is stick with something when you’re not getting the result you want,” Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said after the onslaught. 

“I was real proud of our group tonight, I thought we played a hell of a game and at the end of the day we put ourselves in the position where we were bearing down on the goalie tonight with real good look, A lot of nights you come away with a real big win, it wasn’t our night here tonight, but I’m real proud of the process.”

The Warriors ended up taking a single minor penalty in the contest -- a questionable tripping penalty on Tate Popple late in the third period — and continued to show solid discipline, which only helped generate more opportunities as the game went on.

The Warriors are currently the least-penalized team in the division at only 174 minutes.

“We played a near perfect game in playing the right way and not giving them the opportunity to make calls,” O’Leary said. “Even the one we did take I think they’d like a second look at, but at the end of the day, if we can put ourselves in the position where we’re killing only two or three penalties a night, we like our chances and the one we did have tonight I thought the guys did a real good job.”

Michael Horon opened scoring with two minutes left in the period, as he caught Warriors defenceman Daemon Hunt at the end of a long shift, went wide to the outside and slipped a shot a shot five-hole on Boston Bilous from the top of the crease.

The Warriors captain didn’t have much good luck in the second, either, as a shot clipped off a stick and struck him on the right side of the face, forcing him from the game for a half period. He returned to the ice with just over three minutes left in the frame, though, sporting a bandage where repairs had been made on his right cheek.

Hunt’s return came seconds after the Raiders made it 2-0 on with 3:13 to play on a goal Bilous will most certainly want back.  Eric Pearce’s shot from just above the goalline in the corner somehow found the back of the net after a long, sustained stretch of Warriors pressure in the other end.

A period full of chances in the third made no difference in the final score, and Prince Albert would secure their third straight win.

Bilous stopped 23 shots in taking the loss.

Moose Jaw fell to 7-10-1-0 on the season with the loss and dropped to fifth place, two points back of the Raiders.

The Warriors are back in action Saturday when they take on the Brandon Wheat Kings. Game time is 4 p.m.

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