The Moose Jaw Warriors struck first on Friday night, but seven straight goals by the Prince Albert Raiders propelled them to a 7-2 win at the Art Hauser Centre.

The loss ended the Warriors’ three-game winning streak and dropped them to third in the East Division, three points back of the first place Raiders.

Jayden Halbgewachs and Dryden Hunt scored for Moose Jaw in the loss, while goalie Brody Willms was forced to make 45 saves in a losing cause as the Raiders fired from all angles.

The teams fought for their ice in the opening moments, the Warriors tried to use their speed to ignite their transition game, while the Raiders were also able to showcase their speed and pressured on the fore-check to create opportunities.

At 13:25, Hunt created a high turnover in the Prince Albert zone and puck came to captain Brayden Point in the high slot where he was able to get a shot away and the rebound came to Halbgewachs, who ripped a shot from the bottom right circle for his third of the year.

The lead was short lived as 59 seconds later, Raiders sophomore forward Simon Stransky rushed up the ice on the left wing, toe-dragged around a Warrior and feathered a pass to Jesse Lees on the far right wing where he put the puck past the goal line to tie the game.

Willms was busy in the first period as the Raiders held a 22-10 advantage on the shot clock heading to the intermission.

Moose Jaw started the second period with a strong penalty kill, that seemed to spark their offence in the early stages of the frame, but they weren’t able to build on it.  Instead, Prince Albert was able to create turnovers and made them pay, as goals from Austin Glover, Luke Coleman, and Brendan Guhle gave the Raiders a 4-1 lead after forty minutes.

Prince Albert didn’t let off the gas pedal in the third, Stransky, Cal Babych, and Jordan Tkatch scored in the first three and a half minutes of the period to make it 7-1.  Hunt notched a late power play goal for the Warriors, but it was way too little, way too late as they fell 7-2.

Hunt and Point had two points each for the Warriors, while Stransky and Reid Gardiner had three points each to lead the Raiders.

Moose Jaw’s weekend away from Mosaic Place continues Saturday with a trip to Swift Current for a rematch with the Broncos.  Western Nissan Warriors Hockey returns to Country 100, starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mar Pre-Game Show at 6:40pm.