When the Moose Jaw Warriors were finding a way to win games the last two seasons despite giving up 40 or more shots a night, it was often a product of absolutely fantastic goaltending.
Now they know what it feels like to be on the other side of things.
Former Moose Jaw WINMAR Warriors standout netminder Chase Coward would turn aside 45 shots -- including 26 in the second period -- as the Prince Albert Raiders took a 6-3 victory out of the Moose Jaw Events Centre on Saturday night.
The loss dropped the Warriors record to 6-4-0-0 and saw the local squad fall into a three way tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
Despite the loss, Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary was in a positive frame of mind, as any coach would be after seeing his team put nearly 50 shots on net.
“I think there was a whole lot to like about that game,” O’Leary said. “Whatever they got for shots, there were a lot from the outside and we weren’t spending a lot of time in our own zone and a whole lot of time in their zone. There were point-blank looks, and if we play that exact game over again on Tuesday night, we might score eight.
“So I’m proud of the group for not getting frustrated, we played the right way and just didn’t get the result.”
The majority of the first six minutes were played in the Prince Albert’s end, but one offensive zone turnover led to the Raiders taking the lead. Sloan Stanick opened scoring by, taking a breakaway pass from Aiden Oiring and finishing off at 6:07 of the opening frame.
Oiring then made it 2-0 Prince Albert at the nine-minute mark. A harmless-looking shot by Ryder Ritchie dropped in front of Warrior goaltender Dmitri Fortin, and Oiring outduelled a Moose Jaw defender to tuck the puck into the corner.
The ice completely tilted in the Raiders’ favour for the rest of the period, and after racking up six shots in the first three minutes, the Warriors would have only five the rest of the frame and were outshot 14-11.
“You could call it a slow start, but I think it was more slow results,” O’Leary said of the opening frame. “I still liked a lot of our game early on, we had some great chances and then they’d come right down and score. We were the better team tonight overall, but they capitalized and credit to them.”
Four minutes into the second period, it was 3-0, and the product of some bad luck in the process. Brayden Dube took a shot that redirected off a defenders stick and went perfectly top corner glove side.
As it turns out, that was the last bit of good news for Prince Albert in the period.
To say the least.
The rest of the frame was a steady string of pressure in the Raiders’ zone, and it finally paid off with Harper Lolacher’s first of the season. Lolacher got off a shot from in close and followed up on his rebound, lifting the puck over Chase Coward’s pad to make it 3-1 at 9:22.
The Warriors kept up the pressure as the period continued, and were rewarded by getting to within a goal with 3:54 to play. Atley Calvert finally broke through after a slew of chances in recent outings, finding the puck at the side of the net and flicking a shot in short side.
All told, the Warriors outshot Prince Albert 26-15 in the frame and took 37 shots into the final period.
Asked what more his team could do to find a way to beat Coward, O’Leary was candid.
“I don’t know,” he said. “There were times where we’re staring at an open net and didn’t get anything, and that’s the game of hockey. There are going to be nights like this, last night we had a few bounces and tonight we didn’t.
“When you win games or lose games, you have to trust the process and we’re improving and looking better this week than last week, then we’re doing our job and the results will be there in the end.”
The Warriors would complete the comeback at the 9:50 mark of the third peroid, and it was the product of Lynden Lakovic having a heck of a shift. Seconds after nearly pulling off a lacrosse-style goal, Lakovic took a feed in the slot from Brayden Schuurman and ripped a perfect shot top corner glove side.
Prince Albert got that one right back, though, as Ritchie scored on a shot from the slot 49 seconds later, and a power play led to the Raiders taking a 5-3 lead when Cole Peardon scored three minutes later.
Nail Crocker added an empty net goal with one second remaining.
Fortin capped his night with 32 saves.
The Warriors are back in action for another first-place showdown on Tuesday night, when the Pats make their first trip west on the Trans Canada Highway. Thanks to a 3-1 win over Lethbridge Saturday, Regina took over top spot in the Eastern Conference from the Warriors.
“That’s the way the division and conference is looking and it’s fun to be part of,” O’Leary said. “You have a good weekend and you’re sitting pretty and you have a bad weekend and you’re staring up at a lot of teams, so we just have to make sure we’re ready to go on Tuesday.”
Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
