On Friday night in Medicine Hat, the Warriors scored twice in the first seven minutes and would carry a 2-1 lead into the third period
Saturday back home at Mosaic Place, the Warriors again scored early, with Cade Hayes picking up the first of his career only 56 seconds into the contest. But that would be the last bit of good news for the next 19 minutes, as the Tigers would score four times in the period, firing no less than 30 shots on goaltender Brock Gould in the process, and taking a 4-1 lead.
Interestingly enough, the Warriors wouldn’t go quietly – a pair of goals in the second period and two more in the third made things plenty interesting in the game’s later moments as Medicine Hat would go on to a 7-5 win.
“Our D got caught between the dots too often and our forwards weren’t climbing above,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary. “I thought we did a really good job in the Medicine Hat, but we slipped a little bit here tonight and they took advantage of it.
“We’re going to take our lumps every now and then since we’re a young team learning our way. But the message is that losing can’t become easy, we can’t accept it but we can certainly learn from it. We’re going to let it sting a little bit, but at the same time there are a lot of new faces in that room and we want them to gel together and get a little bit of success to help with that.”
Hayes’ goal came on a slick cross-ice pass from Ryder Korczak, and the 17-year-old rookie would get off a quick shot to beat Tigers goaltender Mads Sogaard low blocker side.
“It feels awesome, it’s a big relief since I’ve been waiting for that one for quite awhile,” Hayes said. “But at the end of the day we didn’t get the two points we wanted, so we’ll have a good day off tomorrow, regroup and come back strong next week.”
Lucas Svejkovsky, Damon Agyeman, Ryan Chyzowski and Cole Sillinger all scored for Medicine Hat as they took their 4-1 lead out of the first period.
Things were far different in the second, though, as the Warriors were able to generate sustained pressure and ended up outshooting the Tigers 14-12, with Hayes and Korczak scoring to send the Warriors into the dressing room down 6-3 through two.
Brett Kemp scored both goals for Medicine Hat in the frame, with his second marker coming with only five seconds left in the period.
That could have been the end of it all, but after Sillinger scored his second 4:14 into the third, the Warriors got right back on the horse, as Logan Doust and Garrett Wright scored to pull the Tribe within two with 4:41 to play.
Moose Jaw would generate a handful of chances with the empty net but wouldn’t get any closer.
Gould would finish the game with 36 saves in his first action since being acquired by the Warriors in the trade with Victoria. He gave way to Boston Bilous after the Tigers’ seventh goal, and Bilous would make 10 saves the rest of the way.
The Warriors fell to 11-25-2-0 on the season and remain three points ahead of last place Swift Current in the Eastern Conference, five points back of Regina and 19 points out of the second wild card playoff spot.
The Warriors are back in action Friday, Jan. 17 when they host the Prince George Cougars. Game time is 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
