Looking to play more consistent hockey in the second half of the season, the Moose Jaw Generals’ first effort of 2014 was anything but on Thursday night at Mosaic Place.

 

The team came out flat, never really found their rhythm and lost 4-3 to the ninth place Notre Dame Hounds on home ice, ending their 13-game unbeaten streak.

 

“We were one step behind and we’ve just got too many guys that think they’re better than they are,” said Ray Wareham, head coach of the Generals.  “There’s no other way to say it than we were just awful tonight.”

 

Areas that the Generals had been strong in during the first half, they struggled in on Thursday night.  That was most evident in the play of goalie Grant Naherniak.  The usually reliable goaltender had an off night, allowing three goals that normally would be easy saves for the Red Deer Rebels prospect.

 

“I didn’t think he was very good at all tonight, but that being said he’s been there lots for us before,” said Wareham.  “You would think that the team would answer the bell and pick him up when he’s having an off night, but that didn’t happen either.”

 

Naherniak ended up allowing four goals on 30 shots in the loss, which dropped his record to 9-6-3 on the year, but giving him his first loss since November 14th in Swift Current.

 

It’s a frustrating turn of events for the Generals as they came into the game after a good week of practice and they were hoping to continue their unbeaten run in league play into 2014 after finishing the first half on a strong note.

 

“I thought we had a good three days of practice this week coming back and they seemed ready and eager to go,” said Wareham.

 

The Generals gave up the opening goal to the Hounds just over five minutes into the game when Egor Popov gave Notre Dame the early lead.  He would come back to bit Moose Jaw again in the second period.

 

Rykr Cole made sure that the Generals went into the break even with the Hounds, scoring on a great individual effort with 3:49 to go in the period.  Cole carried the puck into the right circle and wired a shot past Notre Dame goalie Clarke Flegel.

 

The game went into the break tied, but it wouldn’t leave the second period that way as Popov scored twice in the middle frame to give the Hounds a 3-1 advantage, despite the Generals outshooting Notre Dame 14-10.

 

Needing something to spark them, the Generals got it just 27 seconds in the third period when Dawson Davidson scored on a blast from the point for a power play goal that got Moose Jaw within one.  That would be as close as they would get though as Cale Fleury scored on the power play midway through the frame to restore the Hounds two-goal lead.

 

Riley Cannon added a late marker for the Generals, but they couldn’t find the equalizer in the dying minutes with the net empty.

 

The loss was tough for the Generals to swallow, but they’ll need to have short memories as they’ve got a busy weekend ahead with two home games on tap.  Wareham is hoping that this loss was a wake-up call for the team.

 

“We’re hoping it is because if it isn’t, they’re in for a rude awakening this weekend,” he said.  “We’ll see what kind of character we’ve got in this room.”

 

The Generals will host the eighth place Tisdale Trojans on Saturday night at 7:00pm and then the Beardy’s Blackhawks are at Mosaic Place on Sunday afternoon for a 1:30pm puck drop.