The Yorkton Terriers were in Humboldt Friday, and were down 2-0 to the Broncos 2:59 into the game, on goals by Cody Pongracz and Neil Landry.
Austin Bourhis and Jeremy Johnson would respond before the period was over, sending the teams to the dressing room knotted 2-2.
The second was all Broncos as Matthew Audette, and Joey Davies with a pair gave the home team a 5-2 lead after 40-minutes.
Pongracz would add his second of the night as the only goal of the third period to complete a 6-2 Humboldt win.
Kale Thomson started the game in the Terrier net giving up four goals on 19 shots before being lifted in favour of Dawson MacAuley who allowed the final two goals on 16 shots.
The Terriers did manage 32 shots on winning netminder Luke Lee Knight.
"We got down two-nothing," said Terrier head coach Trent Cassan, noting the Broncos "scored on their first shot," and then the Terriers took a penalty and "they scored on the powerplay too."
While the Terriers managed to tie the score in the first, Cassan said they gave up another two goals with the first five-minutes of the second period, and that was more than they could battle back from.
Over the last several games, Cassan admitted "we've given up some early ones in games," and while they have overcame those deficits at times, that is not possible every time.
Cassan said obviously it's an area they hope to rectify.
"We stress it to the guys," he said, adding it is something players just have to learn for themselves. "If it happens enough times guys will realize it's got to be at the forefront of their minds at the start of the next game."
The loss proved a big one in the standings as the Terriers slipped to third in the Sherwood Conference with a record of 12-6-0-1 and 25 points, one back of Notre Dame and two behind Melville.
Kindersley sits fourth with 17 points, followed by Estevan with 16 and Weyburn with 10.
The loss is not one Cassan is too concerned about, nor is the recent losses. He said the Terriers 9-1 start was something that he had not expected.
"I didn't expect us to go 9-1 every 10-game segment the rest of the season," he said, adding there are "ups and downs over a long season."
That said, Cassan said there are areas the Terriers need to work on.
"There's still some things we need to be better at," he said, adding "our goals against is not where it was."
Cassan said while they have scored more goals, that doesn't matter when they are giving up more too.
"Scoring five goals but giving up six is not something as a hockey club we want to be known for," he said.
Cassan said he believes the defence will tighten.
"I'm happy with the group of 'D' we have," he said. "It's a matter of learning from the mistakes we're making."
Cassan said another area needing some work is for all players to play as hard on the road as they do at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
"Some guys have been very good when we've been on home ice," he said, adding "I'd like to see guys bring more consistency on the road." He said players need to recognize half the games in the regular season, and playoffs, are played on the road.
But overall Cassan is not panicking.
"It's still early November and you don't win your Conference, or Championship at this time of year," he said.
Up next
The Terriers were scheduled to play in Flin Flon last night (Tuesday), but results were not available at press time.
Tonight Yorkton visits LaRonge, and then head to Weyburn Friday.
Sunday the Terriers return to the Farrell Agencies Arena for action hosting Flin Flon.
