The Moose Jaw WINMAR Warriors are down to their last life in the Sask Male AAA Hockey League playoffs.
The Warriors got off to another good start against the Regina Pat Canadians on Monday, but a pair of second-period power-play goals gave Regina momentum and they'd go on to a 4-1 victory in Game 2 of the best-of-five quarter-final series at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
Much of the first two games of the series have been a matter of which team was able to make the most of their chances, and to this point, that team has been Regina -- even when it’s against the flow of the play.
“They’re opportunistic and when they get opportunities, they make you pay,” said Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber. “When you turn pucks over, they catch you flat-footed and all of a sudden the puck is in the back of the net. We had lots of opportunities in the first and it was the same as Game 1, we were up 1-0 for 33 minutes and had plenty of chances to make it two or three nothing and we don’t.”
Things looked good early for the Warriors, as they'd hold Regina to only two shots in the first 10 minutes while generating all sorts of chances of their own. That became a bit of a theme as the game went on, where Moose Jaw would have their share of momentum and zone time, but just couldn’t break through.
“We have to execute better and we have to find places that we can create offence,” Weisgerber said. “When you have those opportunities you have to bear down, get pucks to the net and create chances however you can and that’s what we’re going to have to do Wednesday to get back into this.”
A penalty early in the second period gave the Pat Cs another chance to get on the board and Ellis Mieyette would capitalize with a perfect shot from the slot at 2:11.
Casey Brown made it 2-0 eight minutes lafter when he was sprung on a breakaway by Mieyette, and a 4-on-3 power play goal by Steven Steranka with 6:33 to play in the period gave Regina a 3-0 lead through two.
The Warriors used their third power play of the game to get on the board with 8:21 to play in the third. Caleb Potter got a shot off from the point that redirected in front and past Taylor Tabashniuk to make it a two-goal game.
That’s as close as the Warriors would get, though, as Brown scored an empty net goal with 56 seconds to play to finish things off.
Ryan Bain turned in a solid showing in goal despite the loss, especially in the second half of the first period when Regina pressed for the opening goal. He capped his night with 21 saves, while Tabashniuk stopped 16 shots and faced only two in the final period.
As tough as the first two games of the series have been, the Warriors remain confident they can make it interesting when they’re back on the ice Wednesday in Regina.
“We’re not out of this, we’ll get back to the drawing board tomorrow and we just have to be better,” Weisgerber said. “You can’t compete in the playoffs unless every single player elevates their game and that’s what we’re going to need to get back into this.”
Game 4 if necessary is back in Moose Jaw on Thursday at 7 p.m., and the deciding Game 5 will be in Regina on Sunday.
