The Moose Jaw Warriors have suddenly found themselves going through hard times.
The Warriors dropped their third-straight game in Western Hockey League action on Wednesday night, falling 6-3 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Lethbridge
The win was the first for the Hurricanes in seven outings and saw Moose Jaw drop to 34-19-0-2, remaining two points behind Medicine Hat for second in the Eastern Conference and four points up on fourth-place Swift Current.
Lethbridge opened scoring only 1:15 into the game, as some soft defensive zone coverage led to Sean Tschigerl finding Leo Braillard for a one-timer in the high slot, and he’d make no mistake for the early 1-0 lead.
The Warriors didn’t take long to get that one back. Pavel McKenzie got off a shot in close that dropped behind goaltender Harrison Meneghin, with Jagger FIrkus diving into the crease to knock the puck home at 2:37.
The goal was the 42nd on the season for Firkus and his first point since seeing his 26-game point streak snapped in the Warriors’ previous game against Swift Current.
Tristen Doyle then restored the Hurricanes’ lead at 8:52, with his shot from the point finding its way past a screened Evan May.
The Warriors carried the play the rest of the period and had a handful of chances -- including a breakaway to Firkus and wide-open shot in the slot by Matthew Savoie moments later -- but were unable to score.
Doyle scored his second of the game 29 seconds into the second period, outdueling three Warriors in front of the net to bang the puck past May and make it a 3-1 game.
A power play moments after that goal gave Lethbridge a chance to extend their lead, and they’d do just that, with Logan Wormald finishing off a two-on-one with Tschigerl.
The goal sent May to the bench in favour of Jackson Unger, with May having allowed four goals on 18 shots.
The Warriors received their second power play of the game at the 6:01 mark and they’d make it count. Denton Mateychuk and Atley Calvert worked a tic tac toe pass for Savoie in the slot, and his one-timer would make it a 4-2 game.
The Hurricanes ran into more penalty trouble as the period progressed, and Firkus would strike on Lethbridge’s third penalty in just over six minutes. The goal came only six seconds after the penalty and after another quick passing play between Brayden Yager and Kalem Parker set Firkus up for the one-timer.
A turnover on the rush led to Lethbridge restoring their two goal lead with 2:06 to play in the second when Miguel Marques finished off a three-way passing play with Wormald and Brayden Edwards..
The Hurricanes then extended their lead to 6-3 when a lost battle along the boards led to Braillard picking the puck out of a scrum, skating into the high slot and putting a shot past Unger’s glove with 9:25 gone in the third period.
That would mark the end of scoring on the night, and the Warriors now find themselves with three straight losses since early December.
Unger finished the game with 15 saves in 36:18 minutes of work, Meneghin had 31 saves to earn the win.
The Warriors play the third game of their eight-game road trip on Friday in Tri-CIty against the Americans. Game time is 9 p.m. Moose Jaw time.
