Moose Jaw battled hard but they were not able to overcome a three-goal first-period deficit Saturday and lost 6-3 to the Swift Current Broncos at Mosaic Place.

Throughout the first period, the Warriors were able to hunt pucks down in the Broncos zone and create turnovers which led to extra attack time and quality scoring opportunities, but they were not able to convert.

Swift Current on the other hand, picked up the game’s first goal three and a half minutes into the game when a Warriors neutral zone turnover led to an odd-man rush and finished with a Jaxan Kaluski goal.

The Broncos went up 2-0 at 9:52 while working on the power-play and Kaluski was able to deflect a point shot.  Swift Current went up 3-0 three minutes later when D-Jay Jerome scored on the man advantage.

Down three to start the second, Moose Jaw kept with their game plan and continued to push the pace and hunt pucks down in the Broncos zone which led to more quality chances.

With under three minutes left in the period, the Warriors worked the puck to Martin Lang in the high Broncos slot.  The import forward flung the puck towards the Swift Current net where it went off a body and over the goal line to get Moose Jaw on the board.

Six minutes into the third period, the Broncos went back up by three when Eric Houk scored a shorthanded goal.

However, Moose Jaw would respond quickly as Ryder Korczak scored 13 seconds later to pull them back to within two.

Swift Current was able to notch two more goals in the back half of the third period (one coming on the power-play) to take a four-goal lead.

Inside the final minute of regulation, Ryder Korczak scored his second of the game but it was to late to spark a comeback.

Korczak led the Warriors with two goals and three points, Martin Lang had one goal and three points, while Jaxan Kaluski led the Broncos with three goals.

Moose Jaw was 0-for-2 on the power-play and 2-for-5 on the penalty kill.

After the game, the boys jumped on their bus and headed east to Manitoba where they will finish their weekend three-in-three with their second meeting of the season against the Winnipeg ICE.

Catch all the action Sunday on Country 100 starting with the PreGame Show at 5:40 pm.

Sunday’s game will mark the first time ever that Winnipeg’s old WHL team will play their new WHL team in Manitoba.

The Warriors franchise originated in Winnipeg where they played from 1980 to 1983 before moving to Moose Jaw for the start of the 1984 – 1985 season.

In four years, the Winnipeg Warriors had an overall record of 102-184-2.  Their best season was 1982 – 1983 when they went 42-30-0 and finished with 84 points, it was the only year they qualified for the playoffs and they lost in the first round in three games to Lethbridge.