The Kootenay Ice ran into another roadblock in their race to the postseason, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Wednesday night at Western Financial Place.
The loss, combined with a win by the Red Deer Rebels, puts the Ice six points outside of the playoff picture with only seven games to go in the regular season.
Suffice to say, it’s now or never, especially with three games against the Rebels on the schedule, including a final double-header to close out the campaign.
“Obviously those two games are huge, but starting with Friday, it’s a playoff game for us,” said Ice head coach James Patrick. “It either puts us right in striking distance or it puts us in tough ground to catch up on.”
The Warriors got scoring by committee as offence came former Ice forward Vince Loschiavo, Brandon Schuldhaus, Jayden Halbgewachs, Justin Almeida and Kale Clague. For Halbgewachs, it was his 60th goal of the season and the first time in three years that a WHLer has cracked that ceiling.
Kootenay got offence from Alec Baer who tallied his 26th of the campaign, while rookie Cole Muir, who just turned 17 years old, scored his second marker of the season.
Ice goaltender Duncan McGovern made 22 saves in goal, while Adam Evanoff picked up the win for Moose Jaw with 23 stops.
Loschiavo opened the scoring against his former WHL compatriots, collecting a loose puck at the side of the net and roofing it just past the halfway mark of the opening period.
With four seconds left in the frame, Schuldhaus was the recipient of some pretty passing and he finished the play for a 2-0 Warrior lead after 20 minutes.
“We had a couple breakdowns that end up in the back of the net…it’s killer giving up a goal with four seconds left in the period,” said Patrick. “That really stung, so I know the guys are competing, they’re trying. I just have to do a better job of making them aware of different situations on the ice because I just felt we had too many breakdowns that ended up costing us, gave up too many scoring chances.”
Halbgewachs tripled the lead early in the third period with the eventual game winner on the power play to notch his 60th of the year.
But Alec Baer answered back with a goal for Kootenay, wiring a slap shot from the point that beat a screened Evanoff.
It was the only power play goal for the Ice, who had seven cracks on the man-advantage all evening, including a four minute double-minor in the second period alone.
“I just felt our execution wasn’t sharp,” said Patrick. “Our passing wasn’t crisp. I thought we had some looks, but then our passes were a little off, a foot off, so you’re not able to capitalize there. You gotta recover and get back to sticks in lanes or bodies in lanes.”
Moose Jaw took advantage of an early power play opportunity in the third period and scored less than a minute into the frame, as Almeida tallied the insurance marker.
Clague wrapped up the scoring for Moose Jaw by trailing the play and driving to the net, whipping a pass from Tristin Langan home during a rush into Kootenay territory.
While Kootenay got back on the board with an effort from Muir, it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback.
ICE CHIPS: The Ice called up D prospect Nolan Orzeck from the Alberta Midget Hockey League, who drew into the lineup against the Warriors. Connor McClennon, Kootenay’s 2nd overall pick from the 2017 WHL Draft, remains with the team, but was scratched on Wednesday night.
