Warriors winning streak snapped
In the second game of a 3-game series between old rivals, the Moose Jaw Warriors weren’t able to create consistent pressure and fell 5-3 to the Regina Pats at Mosaic Place.
The action was back-and-forth in the first period with both teams generating some chances in tight, but both Warriors goalie Brody Willms and Pats goalie Max Paddock made some key saves.
The Pats controlled a lot of the play in the opening frame, but the Warriors were ones that came out of the period with the lead as forward Jayden Halbgewachs scored his 54th of the season with just under five minutes to go in the first.
Regina started the second period on the power play after the Warriors took a penalty to end the first period and the visitors capitalized with goal from Nick Henry 36 seconds in to tie the game at one.
The visitors took a 2-1 lead at 11:21 after the Warriors failed to clear the puck out of their zone which led to Regina setting up Jesse Gabrielle for a shot between the circles that found the back of the net.
Throughout the second period the Pats attacked the Warriors but a late penalty kill was the spark Moose Jaw needed in the final five minutes of the period.
Moose Jaw was able to create more pressure inside the Regina zone and then inside the final minute of the period and on the power play Vince Loschiavo was able to tip in a rebound for his 16th of the season to tie the game at two.
Early in the third period the Warriors landed back on the penalty kill and once again the Pats were able to jump on them.
Moose Jaw had difficulties clearing the puck out of their zone which allowed Regina to bounce the puck towards the net where they eventually set up Emil Oksanen who broke the tie at 3:59.
Regina kept pressuring the Warriors over the next four minutes and they picked up two goals from Josh Mahura just over a minute apart to take a 5-2 lead.
The back half of the third period saw the Warriors show some fight but they weren’t able to claw back in to the game. They picked up a late power play goal from Justin Almeida but it was too little too late as their 4-game winning streak came to an end.
Brett Howden led the Warriors with three assists while Josh Mahura led Regina with two goals and three points. Moose Jaw was 2-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill.
These rivals will have Saturday off before they battle again Sunday afternoon in Regina. Catch all the action on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart PreGame Show at 1:40pm.
