Warriors drop another tight game to Broncos on Wednesday
Swift Current, SK – For the second straight night, the Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos went into extra time and Swift Current came out with two points.
The Warriors scored twice in the third to force overtime against the Broncos, but Luke Mistelbacher scored in the extra frame to beat Moose Jaw 5-4 on Wednesday night at the InnovationPlex.
“Those are two games where we probably deserved a bit of a better fate,” Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said.
“Up and down the lineup, I thought everyone was working, competing, giving themselves a lot of scoring chances around the net and I thought we were pretty solid in the D zone as well.”
The Warriors see their winless skid extend to five games, but are coming out of the home-and-home set with the Broncos with plenty of positives after picking up a point in both games.
“There’s good teams in our division, there’s good teams around the league and we’re going to be seeing all of them, so for us, it’s just making sure that we’re coming with the mindset that we’re here to compete,” Pereverzoff said.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we’re getting good results, a chance to win and that’s got to be the identity and mindset of this group.”
The Warriors scored first in each period, but trailed 2-1 after the first and 4-2 after the second as the Broncos responded late in each period.
Moose Jaw took control in the third, outshooting Swift Current, 11-4, and picking up a pair of goals to force the extra period.
Rilen Kovacevic opened the scoring on the night with a shorthanded goal, his seventh goal of the season, just past the midway point of the first period.
The Broncos would answer back with a goal from Parker Rondeau just under three minutes later and then they took the lead on a goal in the final minute of the period by Clarke Caswell.
The Warriors responded early in the second period when Lynden Lakovic ripped home his 10th of the season just 5:34 into the frame to tie the game at 2-2.
Swift Current once again scored two goals late in the period as Brady Birnie scored just past the midway point in controversial fashion as Jackson Unger’s mask had come off during the play.
The Broncos made it a two-goal lead when Luke Mistelbacher scored with 2:34 left in the second.
Moose Jaw upped the pressure in the third period and pulled back within one when Ethan Semeniuk slid home his second of the season with only 8:04 to go.
Just under four minutes later, Kalem Parker lifted home his third of the season to tie the game at 4-4, sending the teams to overtime for the second straight night.
With just 24 seconds left in the extra frame, Mistelbacher scored his second of the night to give Swift Current the extra point.
The Warriors outshot the Broncos, 37-36, on the night. Moose Jaw finished 0-for-2 on the power play and killed off the only power play that Swift Current had.
The Warriors will now get a week off between games, which Pereverzoff said is key as the team has played a league-high 21 games so far this season.
“We’ve seen a lot of kilometres over the last few weeks and a lot of games, so I know the guys are going to need a day or so here to just recharge and reset, but really looking forward to practice,” he said.
Moose Jaw returns to game action next Thursday when they host the Saskatoon Blades at the Hangar.