The Moose Jaw Warrior controlled the pace of the final forty minutes, but weren’t able to put the game away and fell 4-3 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday night at the Enmax Centre.

Lethbridge attacked the Warriors in the opening moments of the game as they used their speed to pin Moose Jaw inside their zone, they were able to win battles along the boards and find open players for clean shots on net.

Lethbridge picked up the game’s first goal only 2:12 in as Keltie Jeri-Leon scored his eighth of the season. Then the Hurricanes went up by two after Taylor Ross scored on the breakaway with 8:29 gone in the firset.

Moose Jaw had good fight in the back-half of the period, they were able to push the puck to the Lethbridge crease, but they weren’t able to settle bouncing pucks down for clean shots. The Warriors also had three power plays in the period, but were unable to convert.

The Warriors were a different team in the second period, they were coming up the ice smoother, they were creating turnovers inside the offensive zone, and they were creating quality scoring chances.

Moose Jaw outshot Lethbridge 13-5 in the frame and they finally picked up their first goal of the game with 46 seconds left in the period as Tate Popple led a rush across the Lethbridge right line, found a seam to the far left wing for a trailing Tristin Langan and Langan cut between the circles where he let a wrist shot go that beat Logan Flodell for his 15th of the season.

With momentum on their side the Warriors pressed early in the third period and just 30 seconds into the period they set up Jett Woo for a shot at the right blueline that beat Flodell for his ninth of the season tied the game at two.

Only 40 seconds later, Brayden Burke led a rush up the ice and dished the puck cross-ice to Justin Almeida on the right wing where he hammered in his 35th to give Moose Jaw a 3-2 lead.

The Warriors controlled the pace of the third period and even outshot Lethbridge 21-9 in the frame, however, Lethbridge was able to hang around and tie the game at 11:56 on a goal from Egor Zudilov and then picked up the game-winning goal with 94 seconds left in regulation when Dylan Cozens put in a loose puck on the right goal line.

Moose Jaw’s two-game Central Division road trip continues on Wednesday in Cranbrook with their final meeting of the season against the Kootenay Ice. Catch all the action on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart Pre-Game Show at 7:40 p.m.

The Warriors four-game in five-day schedule this week continues on Friday with a trip to Brandon and the guys return to Mosaic Place on Saturday night to take on the Saskatoon Blades. Tickets for Saturday’s game are available online at www.mjwarriors.ca or at the Mosaic Place Box Office.