By Matthew Gourlie
They call the playoffs the second season.
It certainly felt like a different season for the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The WHL’s regular season champions never recovered from a slow start against an unwavering Prince Albert Raiders team in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference opening round series.
The Raiders were full value for a 5-3 win in front of 4,509 fans at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw. Game 2 is Saturday night in Moose Jaw.
“We came in as the underdog and we wanted to come in and set the tone early and show what we’re all about and I thought we did that,” said Raiders winger Cole Fonstad. “We played great all night and I didn’t think we gave them too much. It was a good game by all of the guys.”
The Raiders grabbed a 2-0 lead after a period. When the Warriors got on the board and gained some momentum Fonstad scored twice to silence the crowd. The Raiders led 5-1 before the Warriors scored a pair of late consolation goals.
“I thought we didn’t work hard enough. We had some decent stretches where we played some all right hockey, but it can’t be 15 or 20 minutes out of a 60-minute game,” said Warriors veteran forward Brayden Burke. “We know we have things to work on there and we’re going to come out flying Saturday.”
Prince Albert opened the scoring when a Jordy Stallard backhand shot hand-cuffed Warriors goalie Brody Willms and trickled just over the line.
The Raiders scored a power play goal with 2:36 left in the first to double their lead. The Warriors bench was enraged that Stallard bumped Willms as he tried to make a save, but Stallard was able to shovel the rebound past the Warriors goalie as Moose Jaw defenceman Brandon Schuldhaus knocked Stallard down.
“We threw everything at the net and we were relentless. We played a solid D zone and when we needed to get pucks deep, we got pucks deep,” Stallard said. “We came in ready. We know these guys are a good team, but we played well tonight. At the end of the day that’s just Game 1, we have to start getting ready for Game 2 tomorrow.”
The Warriors welcomed Burke and defencemen Schuldhaus, Kale Clague and Dmitri Zaitsev back to the lineup. Tristin Langan missed Game 1 for Moose Jaw. Brett Leason slotted back in for the Raiders after missing the final six games of the regular season.
The Warriors struggled to get going in the first period and didn’t show any crispness to their game in the early stages.
“We were a little bit nervous. There were a lot of guys who were nervous right through the lineup and we didn’t get our foot going in the right direction,” said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter. “(Prince Albert) played a pretty aggressive, easy game — dump-and-chase.”
“We had one goal through 56 minutes, that’s not good enough for this group. It’s not up to our capabilities and our potential. We have to live up to our capabilities and tomorrow will be a different story. I know these guys are going to come out a lot harder and stick to the game plan and not kind of dip our toe into the water and see what the temperature is.”
Burke drew a penalty and completed a great individual rush to set up Vince Loschiavo to get the Warriors on the board early in the second.
Fonstad stole the momentum back 1:26 later and scored again before the end of the second period.
“When they got that one you could tell we kind of sunk on the bench a bit, but it’s big to come back after they score and get the momentum back,” said Fonstad who played his midget AAA hockey in Moose Jaw. “That’s huge and I think that was a big turning point in the game.”
The Warriors did enjoy a five-on-three power play for 1:38 when the score was still 3-1 but failed to cash in. Ian Scott finished with 35 saves and did some of his best work while his team was short-handed.
“He played unbelievable tonight,” Fonstad said of Scott. “He made some saves that were crazy. He’s been great for us all year. He’s an unbelievable goaltender and if we give him any help that’s great.”
Another former Moose Jaw Generals AAA player, Regan Nagy, added some insurance with a goal early in the third period. That chased Warriors starting goalie Brody Willms who stopped 17 of the 22 shots he faced.
“There are some goals we need back, but tomorrow is another night,” Hunter said. “I was thinking of not starting (Willms) in the third, but it’s hard for a young goalie to be sitting there all night and go in at the start of the period. (Willms) needs to fix his game as well and that was a chance for him to go back in and work on it.”
“There is no one exempt from the criticism here and we’re all in this together.”
Tristyn DeRoose buried a rebound after Ryan Peckford hit the post with 3:46 left and Kale Clague scored a power play goal with the net empty with 1:14 remaining. The Warriors power play finished 1-for-7, while the Raiders were 1-for-3.
The Warriors need more from their top players. WHL leading scorer Jayden Halbgewachs was a minus-four on the night and their top defensive pairing of Clague and Josh Brook were on for two goals against.
“I liked the effort from some guys, but some other guys have to play a lot better and that’s all fixable,” Hunter said.
While disappointed to drop Game 1, there was no panic in the Warriors room. They are also leaning on a little history.
In 2012, the Warriors had a 30-3-2-1 record at home, but lost Game 1 of the playoffs to the Regina Pats. The Warriors took the stunning loss in stride and reeled off eight straight wins to advance to their second Eastern Conference final in franchise history.
In 2016 when the teams met in the first round, Prince Albert won Game 3 in Moose Jaw and the Warriors still won the series in five games.
“I never said it was going to be an easy series,” Hunter said. “They’re a good team and they’re well-coached. They’re organized and they compete. I don’t think we played to our potential or followed our game plan until the end of the game.”
Banner photos by Dayna Fjord Andy Devlin
