By RICK MOORE
Times-Herald Sports Editor
They put up another battle but they're in an even bigger hole heading home.
Now it's a question of how much digging power they have.
The Moose Jaw Warriors rolled into town early this morning, down 2-0 in their best-of-seven Western Hockey League Eastern Conference quarter-final following a 6-3 set-back to the top-ranked Calgary Hitmen Thursday.
Calgary won the opening game 5-4 in overtime Wednesday.
"The kids worked hard again," Warrior coach Len Nielsen said. "There were a few points where we ran out of gas and they built some momentum on that.
"And we took a few penalties and they scored on their power-play chances," he added. "It wasn't because of lack of discipline . . . and that's all I'm going to say about that. The kids took the body and they ended up in the penalty box."
In all the Hitmen scored four times with the man-advantage, the first coming from Kenton Smith just 2:30 into the game.
Shawn Limpright tied the game for Moose Jaw 2:43 into the second before the Hitmen scored three times in a span of 4:23 with power-play goals by Shaun Norrie and Kris Beech sandwiching a goal by Jordan Krestanovich.
But the Warriors, as they did Wednesday, chipped away. Martin Beck cut the gap to 4-2 with a power-play goal with 4:38 to play in the second and Jarrett Thompson made it 4-3, deflecting a Jason Weitzel shot past Rastislav Stana just 1:48 into the third.
The Hitmen power-play, however, capitalized again when Sean McAslan scored midway through the period after Warrior netminder Tim Barlow appeared to have the puck covered.
Chris Nielsen sealed the game with an empty net goal with 42 seconds to play.
"The guys battled," Len Nielsen said. "We closed the gap right at the start of the third and then they got that power-play goal and it gets tougher to keep battling back all the time.
"Our penalty killing wasn't as bad as the power-plays indicate," he added. "Two of their goals went off our defensemen and another . . . well, it looked like our goalie had it covered."
Barlow, making his 13th straight start, was busy in the Warrior net, facing 47 shots while Stana, the former Warrior who also earned the win Wednesday, kicked out 28 for the Hitmen.
"Tim's been playing really well," Nielsen said. "And Stana made some big saves in the first period otherwise we could have been up 2 or 3-0."
The series now shifts to Moose Jaw for games three and four Saturday (7:30 p.m.) and Sunday (6 p.m.). Will the smaller ice surface and the home crowd get the Warriors back in the series?
"We'll see . . . they're a pretty good road team, too," said Nielsen, well aware of Calgary's 28 road wins this season which included a Canadian Hockey League record 18 straight.
"But our guys are still believing," he added. "They're athletes who compete to win and it's disappointing to lose but they still believe they can get back into this series."
Season ticket holders have until 1 p.m. game day to pick up their playoff tickets. The Warrior office will be closed on game day from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. after which all unclaimed tickets will go on sale to the general public.
