MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors were much better, but couldn’t find a way to get past the Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights on Monday evening at the Memorial Cup.
London scored three straight goals in the second period and held off a third-period charge by the Warriors before going on to a 5-4 victory at the national major junior hockey championship in Saginaw, Mich.
It was the second straight 5-4 loss for the Warriors after they lost their opener by the same score to host Saginaw Spirit on Friday.
As a result, the Warriors will need a win over the QMJHL champion Drummondville Volitgeurs on Tuesday night in order to reach the tournament semifinal.
The Warriors got off to exactly the start they were hoping for, and seconds into the game at that.
Jagger Firkus had the first great chance of the night when he went in on a breakaway only 29 seconds into the proceedings, with Knights goaltender Michael Simpson making a pad save to keep things scoreless early.
Moose Jaw then hemmed London into their zone for the better part of the next two minutes, leading to the game’s first goal.
Overage forward Atley Calvert finished off a stretch of pressure by finding Denton Mateychuk with a drop pass in the slot, and the Warriors captain would put a shot top shelf for a 1-0 lead 3:39 into the proceedings.
Not long after, the Warriors’ Ethan Semeniuk was hit with a roughing penalty, but a checking to the head penalty to London’s Kasper Halttunen on Matthew Savoie moments later would negate that man advantage.
A defensive breakdown led to London tying things up with 8:02 to play in the period. Jacob Julien found a loose puck at the side of the Warrior net and got a pass across the crease to Ruslan Gazizov for a quick shot and the tying goal.
London then took the lead with just over two minutes to play in the first, thanks to Sam Dickinson finishing off some good puck movement in the Warriors zone by beating Jackson Unger with a shot glove side.
The second period was largely a back and forth affair for the first 10 minutes, but the Warriors would use some hard work to find the tying goal.
A shot from the point by Aiden Ziprick led to a huge rebound for Ethan Semeniuk, and he’d put a shot into the open net past a diving Simpson with 7:01 gone in the frame.
The tie didn’t last long, as a great individual effort saw London’s Sam O’Reilly break in from the point, dipsy doodle around Warriors defenceman Kalem Parker and put a shot top shelf blocker side for the 3-2 lead two minutes later.
An interference penalty to Easton Cowan put the Warriors back on the power play midway through the period, but it would be London who would capitalize.
A turnover in the Knights’ zone sent O’Reilly and Landon Sim in two-on-one, with Sim taking the pass and going top shelf blocker side for the insurance goal with 8:23 to play in the second.
A marginal tripping call to Rilen Kovacevic sent London back on the power play and the Knights would make it a three-goal lead at 16:14 when Halttunen hammered home a one-timer pass to the slot from Cowan.
The Warriors got one back right off the face-off when Semeniuk’s long-range shot skipped in front of the net and over Simpson’s glove, with the marker coming only six seconds after London’s fifth goal.
Moose Jaw’s fourth power play of the game came when Jackson Edward took an interference penalty, and it went like the other three -- a handful of chances, but no results.
The Warriors pulled Unger for the extra attacker with 4:36 remaining, and they’d get one back not long after.
Martin Rysavy was rewarded for setting up in front of the net by jamming a loose puck in the crease through Simpson’s five hole, making it a one-goal game with 3:35 remaining in regulation.
Unger went to the bench again with 1:16 to play, and a Firkus one-timer moments later nearly tied things up, but the Warriors would be unable to find the goal they needed.
Moose Jaw held London to only four shots in the third period, with Unger stopping 23 shots total. Simpson had 26 saves for the Knights.
The must-win game against Drummondville is set for Tuesday night, with puck drop at 5:30 p.m. and the game broadcast on TSN.
