It doesn’t make a lot of sense given their line-up and skill, but the Moose Jaw Warriors have suddenly become a team that struggles to close out games.
And it's happening despite the team continuing to generate every opportunity to win.
For the second time in as many nights, the Warriors gave up a third-period lead and went on to absorb a loss, this time falling 4-3 to the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The fact it happened on Teddy Bear Toss Night didn’t make things any easier.
The Warriors dropped to 17-12-0-2 with the loss and missed a chance to move into a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference while also falling seven points back of the Blades for first.
Saskatoon opened scoring 2:16 into the game when Hudson Kibblewhite put home a rebound despite a pair of Warriors defenders being in position to check.
The Warriors had chances to score the Teddy Bear Toss goal earlier in the period -- with Brayden Schuurman, Ethan Hughes and Dakota MacIntosh all having glorious opportunities in close -- but it would be a defenceman who got the job done.
Kalem Paker’s shot from the top of the left circle eluded Blades netminder Evan Gardner, and the bears came flying with 10 seconds remaining in the opening frame.
“I got a nice pass from Ats (Atley Calvert) there, just ripped a shot on goal and the next thing I knew it was in the back of the net,” Parker said in describing his goal. “It was pretty cool, the benches clear and it feels pretty good to get one for the boys and it all goes to a good cause, too.”
As has almost become a Warriors tradition, it was a player who hadn’t had a lot of success putting the puck in the net as of late who scored the Toss goal -- Parker had a single marker on the season and hadn’t scored since back on Oct. 7 in Medicine Hat.
“I was pretty dry, I hadn’t scored in 25 games and didn’t think I was ever going to score again, so it was a good time to get one,” Parker said with a grin
Jagger Firkus then gave the Warriors their first lead when Brayden Yager forced a turnover on a Blades power play and sent the Seattle Kraken prospect in on a breakaway. A nifty little backhand later and it was 2-1 Moose Jaw with 4:24 to play in the second.
The one-goal edge lasted the entirety of the second period but didn’t get out of the first minute of the third.
Fraser Minten scored on a goalmouth scramble 32 seconds into the frame and just over two minutes later Easton Armstrong scored on a two-on-one with Trevor Wong to make it a 3-2 Blades lead.
The Warriors caught a bit of luck on the tying goal. Gardner attempted to clear the puck around the boards, only for it to go right to Calvert, who put a quick shot on net that eluded the Blades goaltender as he scrambled back into the goal.
The marker came with 7:58 to play and in Calvert’s 200th game as a Warrior. Saskatoon Blades forward and Atley’s younger brother Rowan was also playing his 100th game, with the duo taking the pre-game face-off in a neat little touch for the Calvert family.
Moose Jaw had a chance to take the lead with a power play late in the third, but Gardner would make the best save of the game when he got across to rob Yager on a cross-crease pass.
A minute later, Saskatoon would take the lead when Morgan Tastad’s shot from the point found the top shelf on a completely screened Jackson Unger.
The Warriors had all sorts of opportunities in the final minute and a half with Unger pulled for he extra attacker, but would miss the net on a half dozen shots before time ran out.
“Obviously we had a lot of chances, and that’s back-to-back nights we blew a third-period lead, so we have to take a look at ourselves in the mirror and decide if we want to be a great team or just a good team,” Parker said. “Great teams close those kinds of games out and we should have gone 2-0 when we went 0-2.”
Unger capped his night with 26 saves, Gardner stopped 30.
The Warriors are right back at it on Tuesday night when the Kelowna Rockets are in town. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
