The last time the Moose Jaw Warriors and Lethbridge Hurricanes met in a Western Hockey League contest, it was a goaltending battle for the ages.
Eventually, Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Bryan Thomson would emerge with the 1-0 shootout victory in the rarest of hockey occasions -- a double shutout, where both Thomson and Warriors netminder Carl Tetachuk were each credited with a shutout after stopping every shot they faced through regulation and overtime.
There were no such dramatics when the two teams rematched on Saturday night at Mosaic Place.
It took 4:52 for the first goal of the game to be scored, with Lethbridge’s Corson Hopwo doing the honours, and the Hurricanes would go on to a 5-2 victory.
The Warriors fell to 32-20-3-2 with the loss and are now eight points back of Red Deer for third in the Eastern Conference and one point up on Saskatoon.
One of the main differences from the previous meeting between the two teams was the style of game, and it was something Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary wasn’t exactly a fan of.
“I think they're a hard-working team, but to be honest, they got away with an awful lot tonight,” he said. “I think that right from the get-go, what our guys had to battle through in terms of the hooking, the holding, the slashes, and it's just something that we haven't seen in a long time, that stuff's usually called. But credit to them, they capitalized on their opportunities. Especially in the second period, when the ice was tilted in our favour and the two looks that they had ended up in the back of our net.”
After Hopwo got things started, the Hurricanes extended their lead to two goals with 7:36 remaining in the first, and as the saying goes, you gotta be lucky to be good -- Kade Nolan’s point shot was easily corralled by Unger, but as Ryder Korczak tried to retrieve the puck from his goaltender, it deflected off his stick and in.
The Warriors got one back 1:16 later, taking advantage of their first power play of the game when Jagger Firkus picked up the puck in front of the Lethbridge net, outduelled two defenders and put a shot home past Thomson.
Moose Jaw needed a little over a minute to tie the game in the second period. Brayden Yager forced a turnover and went in on a two-on-one before getting a shot off that snuck under Thomson’s blocker.
The goal was Yager's 29th of the season and tied Theoren Fleury's single-season mark for most goals by a 16-year-old.
Yegor Klavdiev -- the only player to score in the shootout back in the double shutout on Feb. 16 -- restored Lethbridge’s one-goal lead 1:23 later taking a breakaway pass at the Warriors blueline from Nolan Benthem and slipping a shot home five-hole.
The Hurricanes made it 4-2 with 6:26 to play in the second when Justin Hall took advantage of repeated breakdowns on a Warriors power play to go in on a breakaway, and a quick shot top shelf later, Lethbridge was up by a pair.
That marked the end of the game for Unger, who was replaced by Tetachuk after facing 16 shots.
Hopwo added an insurance marker for the Hurricanes with 5:26 gone in the third to close out scoring.
Thomson ended up with 29 saves in the win and drew praise from O’Leary for his continued solid showings again his hometown team.
“Credit to the goaltender, he seems to play us very well,” he said. “Some nights, we'll get the chances that we did and we'll score seven. But this time of year, it's about who wins and losses. It’s a fun time of year, we're scoreboard-watching, standings-watching, and we’ll dust ourselves off and be ready to go next game.”
Tetachuk turned aside 16 shots in his 26:26 of work.
The Warriors are back in action Tuesday night when they travel to Brandon, with next home action on Saturday when the Warriors host the Regina Pats. Game time is 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
