Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan – The Moose Jaw Warriors’ third-period struggles continued Friday night.

The Warriors entered the third period tied 2-2 with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but Lethbridge scored five goals in the third and defeated Moose Jaw, 7-3, at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

“The third period starts and we give up two goals in the first 40 seconds and it’s just a matter of not being ready to go after the intermission, so no excuses, we have to find ways to be better” , said the Warriors associate coach. » said Scott King.

The Warriors are now 1-6-1 when tied heading into the third period this season.

Warriors captain Brayden Yager said Lethbridge won the battle against Moose Jaw.

“The game comes down to who is going to win the most battles and Lethbridge was more willing to lay themselves bare and win every battle,” he said. “I thought the second half was better, but you can’t win in this league if you only play 20 minutes.”

The Hurricanes struck in the first quarter when Hayden Pakkala fired a point shot from Tristen Doyle to make it 1-0 just 27 seconds into the game.

Lethbridge took a 2-0 lead late in the first period on a breakaway goal from Logan Wormald.

The Warriors fought back in the second period and took advantage of a few Hurricanes penalties.

Yager put Moose Jaw on the board with 8:50 left in the middle of the third when he scored his ninth of the season on the power play.

Less than four minutes later, Owen Berge took a pass from Yager and fired in his seventh of the year to tie the game at 2-2 after two.

The Hurricanes struck quickly and often to start the third period, with Shane Smith giving them the lead just 20 seconds into the game.

Just 19 seconds later, Brayden Edwards scored to restore Lethbridge’s two-goal lead.

Noah Chadwick would score another goal just over a minute later to make it 5-2 for the Hurricanes.

Edwards’ second of the period gave the Hurricanes a four-goal advantage over the Warriors with 7:54 left in the game.

Moose Jaw got one back when Aiden Ziprick scored his third of the season midway through the period, but Smith scored his second of the night for the Hurricanes later in the game to make it a 7-3 final.

“We got into a good position after the second and then we came out a little too comfortable and too flat, so obviously it’s not enough,” Yager said.

Jackson Unger stopped 25 of 32 shots on the night, as the Warriors were outshot 32-28 in the loss.

Moose Jaw finished 2 for 4 on the power play, while Lethbridge finished 1 for 3.

The Warriors will look to bounce back when they travel to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers on Saturday night. Puck drop will take place at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time at Co-op Place.