MOOSE JAW -- The Moose Jaw Warriors got off to a good start on Saturday night against the Vancouver Giants, but couldn’t make the most of their chances the rest of the game and would go on to suffer their second-straight defeat.
Vancouver scored a pair of goals in the second period and would go on to a 5-3 victory in Western Hockey League action from Temple Gardens Centre.
Moose Jaw falls to 3-2-0-0 and are tied fourth place in the Eastern Conference, while Vancouver improves to 2-3-0-0 and are tied for sixth in the Western Conference.
The Warriors got things going first when Gage Nagel was rewarded for going hard to the net, putting home a rebound off a Landen McFadden shot in close with 9:57 to play in the period.
Ty Halaburda got one back for Vancouver on a hard-angle shot 2:10 later, but Warriors captain Lynden Lakovic would restore the Moose Jaw lead with a breakaway goal only 32 seconds after.
Halaburda would then strike again before the period was out, sending the teams into the break tied 2-2 after scoring with 4:53 to play. Both of Halaburda’s goals came on the power play.
Some hard work by Aaron Obobaifo led to Vancouver’s first goal of the second period, as he beat a Warriors defender to the outside, fought off the subsequent hold to get off a shot, and had Jakob Oreskovic put home the rebound 3:40 into the frame.
Former Saskatoon Blazers standout Blake Chorney then made it a 4-2 lead with 2:11 to play in the second, scoring his first WHL goal on a partial breakaway.
That’s where things stood until the 8:24 mark of the third, when Warriors rookie Colt Carter walked in off the point on the power play and put home a McFadden rebound for his fourth goal of the season.
Combined with an assist on Lakovic’s goal, Carter now has eight points in five games to lead the entire Eastern Conference in scoring while also sitting second in the WHL among defencemen.
The Warriors would have a few chances as the game ran down -- including a great opportunity for Lakovic on a backdoor pass in the final minutes -- but an empty-net goal from Tobias Tomik would finish things off.
Cameron Schmidt and Ryan Lin each had three assists for Vancouver.
Matthew Hutchison stopped 25 shots to take the loss in the Warriors’ goal, Burke Hood had 25 saves for Vancouver.
The Warriors are back in action Tuesday when they host the Swift Current Broncos, with puck drop at 7 p.m. at Temple Gardens Centre.
