You’ve all heard this one before.
The Moose Jaw Warriors wildly outplay a team for vast stretches of a game, run into a blindingly hot goaltender and end up taking a loss when things are said and done.
Such was the case once again against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, as goaltender Brady Smith turned in a brain-breaking performance, turning aside 30 shots and making a series of unbelievable saves to give his team a 3-2 win in a shootout.
The Warriors fell to 41-20-0-3 with the loss, but thanks to Prince Albert defeating Medicine Hat, actually gained ground in the standings and are now eight points clear of the Tigers for second in the Eastern Conference. The Tigers have only four games remaining, so the Warriors only need a single point over the final five games to lock up second place.
Catching Saskatoon for first place is now virtually impossible after the Blades won in overtime against Edmonton to move 10 points up on the Warriors.
The loss also marked the third time the Hurricanes have defeated the Warriors this season, with each game featuring an utterly incredible goaltending performance by the Lethbridge netminders.
“Their goalie played well again tonight and there are a couple chances a lot of us are going to want back, but you can’t dwell on that now, we just have to rest and move on,” said Warriors forward Jagger Firkus, who had an assist on the Warriors’ second goal and now has a CHL-best 111 points on the season.”It obviously wasn’t our greatest performance but we have a big weekend coming up against Saskatoon and we’re going to need to be ready for them.”
The Warriors had the vast majority of chances over the first 10 minutes, with Smith having to make a handful of big saves -- including a couple on a flurry by the Savoie-Calvert-Lakovic line -- in order to preserve the scoreless tie.
Moose Jaw received their first power play with 8:22 gone in the first, but it was Lethbridge who had the best scoring chance as Logan Wormald went in on a breakaway before being foiled by Warriors netminder Dmitri Fortin.
The Warriors had a handful of other scoring chances as the period progressed and would cap the frame with an 11-5 advantage on the shot clock.
Lethbridge began to get more opportunities of their own in the second period, pulling almost even on shots at one point, but the Warriors had the best chance at the nine-minute mark when Brayden Yager took a feed from behind the net and got off a one-timer, only for Smith to make a great pad save.
Moments later the Hurricanes had a great chance of their own when Fortin was caught out of his net on a goalmouth scramble during a four-on-four, but the Warriors' defence was able to clear the puck from danger.
Seconds after that chance, Matthew Savoie and Voytech Port would go in on a two-on-one, with Port getting a cross-crease pass to the Buffalo Sabres prospect, and he’d outwait a sprawling Smith before putting a shot home at 11:58.
The goal was Savoie’s 28th in 30 games and gives him 60 points in that span.
Moose Jaw then made it a 2-0 game 1:35 into the third. Brayden Yager and Jagger Firkus went in on a shorthanded two-on-one moments earlier and just missed the connection, but when Firkus hit Yager with a breakout pass seconds later, a shot through the five-hole would give the Warriors a two-goal lead.
Lethbridge got back within one 6:53 into the third, with a shot from the side of the net by Dylan Sydor rebounding right out front for Brayden Edwards, who put a shot over a downed Fortin.
That goal brought about a complete change in momentum, as Lethbridge hemmed the Warriors in their own zone for much of the next 10 minutes, and they’d tie things up with 5:57 to play. Sydor tipped a shot from the point by Noah Chadwick that would find the back of the net and tie the game 2-2.
“We have to put in a full 60, we took our foot off the gas in the third period and you can’t do that,” Firkus said. “They’re a hard team, they play good against us, they play a tight system and moving forward we might see them in the playoffs this year, so we’ll have to be better next time.”
Denton Mateychuk had a couple of chances later in the third, ringing one off the post and seeing Smith make the save on another.
Overtime was a nice capsule of how the game played out, as the Warriors had three outstanding chances to finish things but came up short.
Atley Calvert had a great opportunity to end the game on a breakaway but put his shot off the crossbar. That chance came moments after a three-on-one withs Savoie, Yager and Firkus didn’t result in a shot.
Yager then had a breakaway with 1:27 remaining, but Smith would make a great glove save.
That would be the last good chance in overtime, sending things into a shootout.
There, Wormald scored the lone goal to give the Hurricanes the comeback win.
Fortin had a solid showing of his own with 25 saves on the night, but it wouldn’t be enough to outdo Smith’s heroics.
The Warriors now have the week off before their home-and-home with the Blades. The Warriors are in Saskatoon on Friday night before hosting the Blades Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
