MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors once again showed resiliency, but once again came up short on the Western Hockey League scoreboard on Saturday night,
The Prince Albert Raiders scored three goals in the third period to take a 6-4 victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw’s first home game since winning the WHL championship last spring.
It marked the second-straight game where the Warriors saw their opponent put on a third-period surge to take the win, and saw Moose Jaw fall to 0-2-0-0 on the season. Prince Albert improved to 1-0-1-0 after losing in overtime a night earlier to Regina.
“That’s the way it’s going,” said Warriors defenceman Aiden Ziprick, who scored in the third period to tie the game 4-4. “We have to bear down when it matters, whether it’s a tie game or we’re up one or two, we have to keep going and don’t let up. I feel like we kind of did that tonight but let them crawl back into it.”
The Warriors long-awaited Western Hockey League championship banner raising took place before the game, beginning at the end of the player introductions when goaltender Jackson Unger brought the Ed Chynoweth Cup onto the ice.
Moments later, multiple-time overtime heroes Brayden Schuurman and Lynden Lakovic helped prepare the banner for its raising, with the team then watching as the first ever WHL Championship was raised to the rafters.
“It was probably one of the most special things I’ve been a part of,” Ziprick said. “The run we had was something that every kid dreams of, and that’s probably not going to happen to me again for awhile, so it was just ‘take it in’ and I think all the boys really enjoyed it.”
As for how things turned out once the game started, the Warriors found themselves chasing much of the game, finding a way to tie things up three times before the Raiders finally put things away in the third.
It marks the second-straight game where the Warriors had a chance to win in the final period, but saw the other team pull away for the win. Fixing that issue will naturally be a thing to work on as the early season progresses.
“We know we’re there, we just have to clean up the little things,” Ziprick said. “Whether it’s neutral zone or d zone, working in the o zone, all the little things. That’s what we’ll work on in practice this week, and if we can bear down things will turn around… It’s just two games, we know we have a good team and we’re looking forward to doing better.”
The Warriors long-awaited Western Hockey League championship banner raising took place before the game, beginning at the end of the player introductions when goaltender Jackson Unger brought the Ed Chynoweth Cup onto the ice.
Moments later, Brayden Schuurman and Lynden Lakovic helped prepare the banner for its raising, with the team then watching as the first ever WHL Championship was lifted to the rafters.
From there, it was on to the game, with the Raiders getting on the board first.
Prince Albert opened scoring 6:25 into the game when Riley Boychuk outduelled a Warriors defender at the side of the net and found Ty Meunier in the slot, with his quick shot finding the back of the net.
Owen Berge got that one back for the Warriors with 4:34 to play in the period, going in on a two-on-one before ripping a perfect shot top shelf glove side to make it a 1-1 game.
The tie lasted less than two minutes, as Prince Albert’s Harrison Lodewyk took a pass from behind the net from Brayden Dube and put a shot from the slot through traffic and in glove side.The goal came 1:27 after Berge’s marker.
The Raiders then made it a two-goal game 1:25 into the second. Ethan Bibeau got off a perfect tip at the top of the crease on a Dax Rudoph point shot shot, making it a 3-1 Prince Albert game.
Pavel McKenzie got the Warriors back within a goal with 10:40 remaining in the second, getting off a shot in close and then banging home the rebound in close.
Four minutes later, it was a tie game, thanks to Schuurman scoring on the power play. The overage veteran was in the right spot at the right time, jumping on a rebound off a Rilen Kovacevic shot in close and putting a shot top shelf to tie the game 3-3.
There things stood until a Prince Albert power play midway through the third period. Niall Crocker got off a shot from the high slot that redirected to Oli Chenier at the side of the net, and he’d put a shot into the open cage to give the Raiders the lead with 9:19 to play.
That lead didn’t last long, thanks to the Warriors’ third power play of the game. Ziprick did the honours, finishing off some slick passing in the zone with a perfect shot top shelf blocker side, tying the game with 7:57 remaining.
A late penalty gave Prince Albert another chance to take the lead, and they’d do just that with 2:57 to play when Chenier got off a one-timer from the left face-off circle just as the power play expired.
Doogan Pederson added an empty-netter with less than a minute remaining, and the Raiders had their 6-4 win.
Unger finished with 35 saves on the night while Max Hildebrand had 26 stops for Prince Albert.
The Warriors are now off until Friday when the Regina Pats make their first visit of the season to the Moose Jaw Events Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.
