Warriors downed by Thunderbirds in Tuesday battle
Moose Jaw, Sask. – A slow start was too much to overcome for the Moose Jaw Warriors against the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday night.
The Warriors fell behind 3-0 after the first and eventually dropped a 4-1 decision at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“You don’t give yourself a chance to win if you’re not going to win puck battles,” Warriors associate coach Scott King said. “There’s too many times where 50/50 pucks or a loose puck or if we’re slow to get to it or if we get there in time, we’re just not heavy enough on it.”
The loss is the fifth straight for the Warriors, who have picked up just one point over the last five games.
Warriors defenceman Connor Schmidt said the team is keeping a positive mindset despite the recent struggles.
“It’s about leading by example, competing every shift and being positive on the bench,” he said. “I know we’ve been losing, but you’ve still got to be positive and try to turn this around.”
Seattle struck for three goals over a span of 3:09 in the first period to take a commanding lead late in the opening frame.
Arjun Bawa opened the scoring at 12:41 and then just two minutes later, Brayden Holberton made it a 2-0 game.
Just over a minute later, Sawyer Mynio found the back of the net to give the Thunderbirds a 3-0 lead.
The Warriors started to push back in the second and Schmidt got them back within two in the final minute of the middle frame when he blasted home his second of the season.
Moose Jaw couldn’t climb any closer, however, as Seattle sealed the win with an empty net goal by Matej Pekar with 3:37 to go in the third.
Josh Banini stopped 35 of 38 shots in the Warriors’ net as Moose Jaw was outshot 39-24 on the night.
The Warriors will now look to get back on track when they head out on the road for a five-game, 11-day road trip to the B.C. Division, starting on Friday in Kelowna.
