Out-shot 21-1 and trailing 2-0 after one, the situation looked dire for the Moose Jaw Generals on Sunday, but the team rallied after the first period and gave the Regina Pat Canadians a good fight over the final 40 minutes.

The Generals would go onto lose their fourth straight, falling 4-2 to the second place Pat Canadians at Mosaic Place on Sunday afternoon, but the team is coming away encouraged by their effort to end the game.

“The first period wasn’t so good, but once the second period kicked in, we all got our feet under us and we got going after that, so it was good to see,” said forward Ben Wourms-Rowe, who got Moose Jaw on the board with a power play goal late in the second period.

That goal lifted a big monkey off the back of Wourms-Rowe, who had went 25 games to start the season without finding the back of the net.

“It finally came, so it felt pretty good,” said the Moose Jaw product.

The Generals offence found a spark with that goal and Casey McDonald would give Moose Jaw even more life just 41 seconds into the third period when he scored another power play goal to make it a one-goal game.

The score would stay that way for the next 19 minutes despite the Generals generating some quality scoring chances. Regina’s Leighton Burns Marion slide the puck into an empty net with 53 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Chase Nameth, Johnny Carmichael and Matthew Culling also scored in the win for Regina.

“We always seem to have a real hesitant first period and once the kids get going, they play good after that, but that first 20 minutes, we get behind the eight-ball and are playing catch-up the entire game,” said Generals coach Kevin Moore.

Moore added they were right in both games over the weekend and were competing, which was good to see.

“In Swift Current, it could have went either way, we were right there, competed hard, no puck luck, but I was happy with the effort,” he said. “When the work ethic is there, we’re playing good.”

Generals goalie Ethan Hein turned away 41 shots in Sunday’s loss. He played a big part in the game being only 2-0 coming out of the first period.

“He was great tonight I thought, it could have been 5, 6-0 easily in the first period and he made some big saves to keep us in it,” said Moore.

The Generals close out the pre-Christmas schedule with a 6-17-2-3 record. They won’t return to game action in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League until the new year.

Moose Jaw will be back on the ice over the holidays as they travel to the Richmond International Midget AAA Tournament, which the Generals have won on two occasions.

“It’s going to be fun heading there with the boys, hanging out and playing some hockey, so it will be fun,” said Wourms-Rowe. “It’s going to be a good test for us to see how we do.”

The Generals will open the tournament on Boxing Day against the Hungary U16 national team. They will face Everett on Dec. 27, Yale Academy on Dec. 28 and Mission, AZ on Dec. 29.