RED DEER -- If things had gone their way on the power play in the first period on Friday night, the Moose Jaw Warriors just might have come away with a win over the Red Deer Rebels.
As it stands, the Warriors would go scoreless on four opportunities in the opening frame while the Rebels built a three-goal lead, with Red Deer going on to a 4-2 victory in Western Hockey League action.
Moose Jaw falls to 11-34-4-2 with their fourth-straight loss and remain in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, Red Deer improved to 19-25-4-1 and are in ninth place, eight points back of Swift Current for the final playoff spot.
The Warriors picked up the first power play of the game six minutes into the first period, but it would be the Rebels who hit the scoresheet first.
Samuel Drancak forced a turnover in the Red Deer zone and broke down his wing on a two-on-one before putting a shot from the right faceoff circle top shelf glove side. The goal came 6:44 into the contest.
The Rebels then extended their lead to 2-0 just over six minutes later, with Jack Bousquet flipping a pass into the Moose Jaw zone that eluded all the Warriors defenders but found Gleb Semenov in front of the net. His quick shot would hit home, and Red Deer had their two-goal edge.
Red Deer ran into more penalty trouble as the period progressed, and the Warriors would end up with a two-man advantage for 54 seconds late in the frame.
The Warriors appeared to have scored as the first penalty expired when Ethan Semeniuk batted home the rebound off his own shot in close, but it was ruled he’d knocked the puck in with a high stick.
The Rebels received their second power play of the period with 36 seconds to play, and they’d strike again, with Kalan Lind tucking home his own rebound in front with 12 seconds remaining in the first.
Ethan Hughes got the Warriors on the board 2:22 into the second, picking up a turnover along the boards and breaking into the slot before using a nifty little toe-drag to put a shot low glove side.
Moose Jaw’s power play went back to work at the 10:55 mark of the period, and this time they’d get things done. Pavel McKenzie found Krzysztof Macias in the slot with a pass from the boards, and Macias would have plenty of time to put a shot top shelf and make it a one-goal game with 8:36 remaining.
Nothing would change in the third period until the final second of the game, when Ollie Josephson scored an empty netter to finish off the two-goal win.
Matthew Hutchison finished with 36 saves in the loss, while Peyton Shore turned aside 18 shots.
The Warriors are right back in action on Saturday when they travel to Edmonton to face the Oil Kings.
