MOOSE JAW -- The Moose Jaw Warriors did what they could to take a win over the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday night, but ended up falling just short in the end.
Ty Muenier would score the winner in the shootout and the Raiders would go on to a 3-2 victory over the Warriors in Western Hockey League action at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The Warriors improved to 10-21-3-2 with the single point and moved into sole possession of 10th place in the Eastern Conference, while Prince Albert improved to 19-12-3-1 and moved into fourth place in the Conference, three points back of first place Medicine Hat.
Interestingly enough, with five points in their last three games, the Warriors are technically the hottest team in the Conference, as no team has more than two wins in the same span.
The game marked the third contest since missing more than two months with a lower body injury for the Warriors’ Brayden Schuurman, and he continued to play well, assisting on the game’s opening goal for points in each of his three games since returning.
“It’s feeling more and more comfortable as we go, every shift, every period, every day, it’s baby steps,” the overage forward said. “But I’m feeling better and better as we go here.”
Being able to contribute immediately on his return -- Schuurman has a goal and five points since returning against Regina on Tuesday -- is definitely a positive.
“That’s what I want to do and being an older player, you’re leaned on a little bit more,” he said. “Being able to do that right off the bat is important for our success.”
As for Friday’s game, Schuurman was one of a few players who could have had a multiple-point outing, but the finish just wasn’t there.
“Sometimes the puck is going to go in for you and sometimes it’s not, but getting those chances is important,” Schuurman said. “If you’re getting ones like we were tonight, they’re going to go in more often than not… Puck luck doesn’t hurt, sometimes it goes off his knob or off his shoulder and you can’t really control that. So just keep getting the opportunities and trust in the process.”
Most important of all is the points in the standings. The Warriors have a long way to go to get back into playoff contention -- as of Friday, they were eight wins and 13 points back of eighth place Red Deer -- but it all has to start somewhere.
“We want to get into a groove in the second half,” Schuurman said. “We know where we are in the standings and we want to push for a playoff spot, so these last couple games have been good building blocks.”
The Warriors got off to a fast start and opened scoring only 48 seconds into the proceedings. Ryan Ellis got off a shot that Owen Berge would tip in the slot, and the puck would find the top corner glove side on Raiders netminder Dimitri Fortin.
Prince Albert received their first power play of the game midway through the first period, and they’d make it count. Lukas Dragicevic got off a shot along the ice that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net with 9:07 to play in the opening frame.
The Raiders then took the lead with 4:02 remaining in the first when Dax Rudolph pinched in from the point, took a feed from Aiden Oiring and put a perfect shot top shelf blocker side.
There things would sit until 4:27 remained in the third period, when the Warriors’ Riley Thorpe would corral a loose puck in the Raiders zone and break around the net, beating Fortin on the wrap-around to make it a 2-2 game.
Both Warriors goaltender Josh Banini and Fortin -- who played for Moose Jaw the last two seasons before being traded to Prince Albert last month -- had to be sharp in the third period, and they were. Each stopped all nine shots they faced, several of the difficult variety, and the contest went into overtime.
There, a penalty late in the third period put the Raiders on a four-on-three power play, but the Warriors were able to successfully kill off the man advantage.
The remainder of the extra frame solved nothing, and Meunier would score the winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout.
Banini finished with 37 saves for the Warriors, Fortin stopped 28 for the Raiders.
Moose Jaw is right back in action on Saturday night when they host the Saskatoon Blades, with game time 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. Prince Albert returns home to face the Brandon Wheat Kings, with that contest going at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
