MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- If chances always resulted in goals, the Moose Jaw Warriors and Saskatoon Blades would have likely hit double digits each on the scoreboard on Saturday night.
But thanks to stellar goaltending performances at both ends of the ice, the contest was the exact opposite.
Saskatoon scored the only two goals of the game in the third period -- one of them into the empty net -- as they took a 2-0 victory over the Warriors in Western Hockey League action from SaskTel Centre.
Saskatoon improved to 6-1-1-0 and continue to hold down first place in the Eastern Conference, while Moose Jaw dropped to 3-4-1-0 and remain in seventh place overall.
Regardless of how things turned out in the end, the contest could have had a different feel had the Warriors capitalized on their chances at the start of the game -- especially in the first few minutes when they had a slew of time in the Saskatoon zone.
“I think we left some opportunities on the table early on where we were in alone on top of the goaltender and a year like this where we don’t have the offensive touch that we had, we can’t miss on those opportunities,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary. “They’ll come back and bite you, they did tonight, and it was a tough one to swallow, for sure.”
Overall, the first two periods wouldn’t have looked out of place in last season’s epic Eastern Conference final series.
Both Warriors goaltender Jackson Unger and Blades netminder Evan Gardner were on point, making a handful of huge saves to keep the game scoreless. It wasn’t for a lack of opportunities, either, as both teams had outstanding scoring chances in close but couldn’t find a way to put the puck home.
The Blades finally broke through with the game’s first goal early in the third period.
A late-second-period power play put Saskatoon on the man advantage to start the final frame, and Saskatoon would capitalize. Rowan Calvert got to the front of the net and was left all alone for a cross-crease pass from Brandon Lisowsky, with Calvert tapping the puck into the open net for the 1-0 lead 47 seconds in.
Ben Riche then added an empty-net goal with 1:57 to play to close out scoring.
Despite their less-than-perfect record, the Warriors have found themselves in close battles almost every game this season. Finding ways to win those kinds of contests -- something that became a hallmark of the 2024 championship team -- is simply a matter creating that winning touch.
“They’re one goal games, right?” O’Leary said. “All these losses, you take away the empty netters and they’re one-goal games, so the margin of error is very small but I think there’s still lots we can do to generate more offence… There’s more there in terms of the true compete to get on the inside. I liked our compete to keep things to the outside this weekend, but in the offensive zone, if we want to score we can’t do it from outside the dots and we have to work our way in.”
The good thing is close losses can go the other way with a break or two, something the team will be looking to create as the season progresses.
“It just leaves a little bit of hope,” O’Leary said. “It’s one puck battle here and being ready for the opportunity when the puck is on your stick, that could be on the power play or five-on-five. But when you’re losing by one goal, there’s hope there that with a little shift in development or a little more in the compete department, we can turn these losses into wins.”
Unger finished his night with 31 saves, including 16 in the third period, while Gardner stopped 20 shots for the shutout.
The Warriors are back in action Tuesday night when the Spokane Chiefs are in town. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The Blades are also back on the ice Tuesday when they host the Regina Pats. Game time is 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.
