WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Topped by Raiders on Friday Night

Published on March 5, 2022 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


The Moose Jaw Warriors came flying out of the gates, but couldn't keep the pace up in a Friday night loss to the Prince Albert Raiders in downtown Moose Jaw.

After Moose Jaw jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes, the Raiders fought back with four straight goals on their way to a 5-3 win at Mosaic Place.

"We resorted to our old ways a little bit," Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said after the loss. "A little inconsistent, didn't like a lot of the goals and you've got to execute if you're going to get out of your own end."

Despite the loss, the Warriors remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, but their lead is down to three points over the Saskatoon Blades, who have three games in hand.

Warriors forward Calder Anderson, who scored in his return to the lineup after missing the first 53 games of the season, said the Warriors were complacent in the loss.

"It ended up costing us," he said. "This one definitely stings, especially with the standings so tight and other teams winning tonight, so we'll take this one as it is and it's a new day tomorrow and we'll be ready for that one."

The Warriors jumped all over the Raiders early in the game and opened the scoring when Riley Niven snapped in his third of the season just 1:36 into the game.

Moose Jaw continued to pressure Prince Albert and extended its lead to 2-0 when Anderson finished off a nice feed from Defenceman Lucas Brenton 9:29 into the game.

Anderson returned to the lineup after undergoing knee surgery before the regular season. It was his first regular season game at Mosaic Place in two years.

"The excitement level was definitely in the building tonight with family and fiends watching, so it was good to get back in the lineup," he said.

"[The goal] was a long time coming, it's always in the back of your mind, wanting to score goals, so it's good to get that one out of the way."

After Anderson's goal, the momentum swung in the Raiders' favour and they were able to get on the board just four minutes later when Carson Latimer pounced on a rebound in front to make it 2-1 after one.

Prince Albert came out firing in the second period and Reece Vitelli blasted in a power play goal to tie game at 2-2 just 4:37 into the second.

Just over three minutes later, Ozzy Wiesblatt jumped on a turnover at the Warriors' blue line and wired home the go-ahead goal for the Raiders.

Prince Albert added to their lead in the final minute of the second when Hayden Pakkala scored to make it 4-2 going into the third period.

The Warriors found life early in the final frame when Eric Alarie scored his 15th of the season just 4:03 into the third period to make it a one-goal game, but that was as close as Moose Jaw could get.

Vitelli scored his second of the night into an empty net with 58 seconds left to seal the win.

"We just have to be honest with ourselves, the effort wasn't there," Burnett said. "We'll talk about that, we'll look at it on video, we'll show the guys tomorrow and and we'll be ready to go come seven o'clock."

Jackson Unger made 20 saves in goal for the Warriors as he lost for the first time in his last five starts, while Tikhon Chaika made some big saves on his way to stopping 23 of 26 shots from Moose Jaw in the win.

The Warriors were 0-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill in the loss.

Moose Jaw will look to bounce back on Saturday night when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings for a big matchup at Mosaic Place. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from March 5, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central