Warriors Open Road Trip with One-Goal Loss in Lethbridge
October 5, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release
Lethbridge, AB - The Moose Jaw Warriors opened up their two-game weekend in Alberta for a narrow loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Brayden Yager scored twice, but it wasn't enough as the Warriors dropped a 4-3 game to the Hurricanes on Friday night at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
"We had some good moments there, didn't execute a whole lot throughout the game though and I think that ended up costing us," Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said.
In his first game back with the Warriors, Yager struck for two goals in the loss, while Noah Degenstein opened the scoring with his first Western Hockey League goal.
"Really happy for a guy like Noah Degenstein to get his first, it was a long time coming," Pereverzoff said. "Obviously with Yager coming back, everyone knows what he can do with the puck and he had his good looks tonight as well."
Jackson Unger stopped 36 of 40 shots on the night.
The Warriors got off to a hot start with Degenstein deflecting home his first career goal only 4:14 into the first period.
Only 2:28 later, Yager finishing off a nice passing play from Lynden Lakovic and Rilen Kovacevic for his first of the season to make it 2-0 for Moose Jaw.
The Hurricanes would respond late in the period with Brayden Edwards scoring a pair of goals to make it a 2-2 game after one.
Despite the Warriors receiving four power plays and Lethbridge getting two in the second, the score would remain tied going into the third.
That changed early in the third when Logan Wormald scored shorthanded only 59 seconds into the period to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the game.
A power play goal midway through the frame from Leo Braillard gave Lethbridge some insurance.
It was needed as Yager snapped home his second of the game on the power play with 3:44 to go to make it a one-goal game, but that was as close as the Warriors could get.
"You give a team like Lethbridge credit, they were obviously able to make plays in the O zone, but for us, the disappointing part is just our puck management through the neutral zone and our depth in the O zone," Pereverzoff said.
"When we look back on this game, we're going to start to see that a lot of zone coverage time that we spent was because of our puck management."
The Warriors were outshot 14-4 in the third period and 41-22 overall in the game.
Moose Jaw went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Lethbridge was 2-for-6 with a shorthanded goal.
The Warriors, now 1-3-1-0, will look to bounce back when they take on the Medicine Hat Tigers (1-3-0-0) on Saturday night at Co-op Place. Puck drops at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
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