After being shellacked in the first two games of the series, the Moose Jaw Warriors let the Winnipeg Ice know on Tuesday night that it won’t be a cakewalk.
The Warriors defeated the Ice 3-2 in Moose Jaw in Game 3 of the second-round Eastern Conference series to cut the series deficit to 2-1.
It comes after the Ice outscored Moose Jaw 13-1 in the first two games of the series in Winnipeg.
And it looked like the Ice were on their way to another rout as they opened the scoring 3:37 into the game on a powerplay as Zachary Benson scored his seventh of the playoffs.
And then early in the second, Moose Jaw’s Robert Baco was tossed from the game for charging, giving the Ice a five-minute powerplay.
But the Warriors killed it off and 11 seconds after the penalty expired, Jagger Firgus tied it up 7:48 into the second period.
The Warriors took control in the third period as Winnipegger Eric Alarie gave Moose Jaw their first lead of the series 3:12 into the final frame and then Calder Anderson would score a back-breaking shorthanded goal just before the midway point of the period.
READ MORE: Ice crush Moose Jaw in Game 1
The Ice cut the lead to one as Jack Finley scored his fifth of the playoffs with a minute left, but it wouldn’t be enough.
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Daniel Hauser made 28 saves in net for the Ice. Benjamin Zloty had assists on both goals for Winnipeg.
The Ice put 40 shots on net, but Jackson Unger was excellent between the pipes for the Warriors making 38 saves.
“We just have to get a little more traffic,” said Ice forward Connor McClennon. “He’s a young goalie who had a heck of a game.”
“We turned over a lot of pucks tonight, that’s something we haven’t been doing this series. We’ll look to be a better team tomorrow.”
Ice head coach James Patrick said the turning point was the lengthy powerplay that his team could not convert on.
“We hit him in the stomach a lot, we didn’t get it up a lot,” Patrick said. “I just don’t think we capitalized on the chances we had. I don’t think we got inside as good as we have in the past.”
Game 4 goes Wednesday night in Moose Jaw with the puck dropping just after 8 p.m.
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