The Moose Jaw Warriors will be forced to play another game in their first round series with the Saskatoon Blades.

The Warriors dropped a 5-3 game in Game 4 on Wednesday night in Saskatoon, missing a chance to sweep their East Division rivals.

“We fought hard tonight, it was just one of those games where they were opportunistic and they scored on some chances,” Warriors assistant coach Scott King said.

The Warriors came flying out of the gates to start the game, but didn’t get rewarded for the pressure that they put on the Blades and found themselves down 2-0 after one.

Defenceman Max Wanner said that forced the team into chase mode for the rest of the game.

“We did show a lot of resiliency with the way we did come back and we tied it up,” he said. “It’s obviously an unfortunate end, but we played a good game and that’ll bring some momentum into the next game.”

Wanner finished with two goals in the loss, while Cordel Larson chipped in with two assists after his overtime heroics in Game 3.

King said the Warriors pushed hard to end the series and were right in the game all night.

“We’re not going to dwell on it too much,” he said. “We’ve played a pretty good series so far, we’re not satisfied.

“The fourth win is the hardest one to get, you got a team that’s desperate and they want to extend this series, they played a good game tonight, so we have to make sure we’re to go on home ice.”

After Ego Sidorov and Kyle Crnkovic scored in the first period, Wanner scored twice in the second period for the Warriors.

His first of the game came just past the midway point to pull the Warriors within one, but Noah Book answered back just over three minutes later to restore the two-goal lead.

Wanner got the Warriors back within one with a great shot coming down the wing with just under two minutes to play in the middle frame.

The Warriors rode that momentum into the third period when Ryder Korczak wired home his second of the playoffs just 2:45 into the frame to tie the game at 3-3.

Saskatoon responded just under five minutes later, taking the lead for good on a shot from Rhett Rhinehart.

Crnkovic sealed the win with an empty net goal in the final minute.

Wanner said Moose Jaw allowed Saskatoon to get some chances off the rush and it hurt them.

“We know the kind of game we like to play against them and when we get down low and we work our points, we have three guys high, it turns into a game where we’re not chasing the score all game,” he said.

Carl Tetachuk finished with 25 saves in the loss, while the Warriors outshot the Blades, 35-29 on the night.

The Warriors went 1-for-2 on the power play and held Saskatoon to an 0-for-2 night on the man advantage.

These two teams will now meet for Game 5 on Friday night at Mosaic Place. Tickets are on sale now at mjwarriors.ca and the Mosaic Place Box Office.