The Moose Jaw Warriors battled hard Tuesday night but could not pick up a late game-tying goal, leading to a 5-2 loss to the Red Deer Rebels at Mosaic Place.

Space was hard to come by throughout the first period as both teams played well defensively to limit quality scoring chances around their nets.

Red Deer picked up the game's first goal at 6:10, while on the power-play, 19-year-old Ben King snapped a shot from the right circle over the right should of goalie Carl Tetachuk.

The visitors added to their lead just over two minutes into the game when the Warriors misplayed the puck in their zone.  That allowed Kalan Lind to grab the puck on the left-wing and then set up Carter Anderson in the middle of the ice where he scored Red Deer’s second goal of the game.

As the second period continued, the Warriors started to create more pressure inside the Red Deer zone.

Moose Jaw tossed 15 shots at the Rebel net in the middle frame, at 14:09, they pulled to within one after Brayden Yager scored his 8th goal of the season from a one-time inside the left circle.

44 seconds into the third period, the Rebels jumped on a loose puck high in their zone.  Jhett Larson led an odd-man rush up the ice and then took a shot in the left Warriors’ circle that found the back of the net to make it 3-1.

Moose Jaw came right back at 3:09 while working on the power-play.  Jagger Firkus had the puck inside the right circle, he found a seam to make a cross-ice pass to Denton Mateychuk in the left circle.  The defenceman put a quick shot over the glove of Chase Coward for his sixth of the season, pulling the Warriors back to within one.

The Warriors pressed for the remainder of the third period and created some quality scoring opportunities, but they could not convert.

Instead, the Rebels Ben King scored his second of the game at 16:31 to put Red Deer back up by two and then Liam Keeler scored an empty-net shorthanded goal in the final moments of the game.

Carl Tetachuk made 35 saves in the loss, while former Under-18 Warrior Chase Coward made 31 saves for the win in his return to the Friendly City.

The Warriors are now off until the weekend when they will take on a pair of Central Division teams.  On Saturday, the Edmonton Oil Kings are in town, while the Lethbridge Hurricanes make their first trip to Moose Jaw on Sunday.