What could have went wrong, seemed to go wrong for the Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 1.

The Prince Albert Raiders led 2-0 after the first, 4-1 after two and skated to a 5-3 win over the top-ranked Warriors on Friday night to open their first round playoff series at Mosaic Place.

Moose Jaw will now need to find a way to respond in Game 2 on Saturday night.

“We just didn't work hard enough really, we had some decent stretches where we played some alright hockey, but it can't be 15-20 minutes of a 60-minute game, so we know what we've got to work on there and we're going to come out flying (in Game 2),” said Warriors forward Brayden Burke, who set up the Warriors' first goal by Vince Loschiavo.

While a lot didn't go right for the Warriors in the loss, head coach Tim Hunter isn't close to hitting the panic button by any means.

“Tomorrow night is another night. I never said it was going to be an easy series, they're a good team, they're well coached, well organized and they compete, but we didn't play to our potential or follow our game plan through until the end of the game,” said Hunter. “I liked the effort from some guys, but some guys have to play a lot better and that's all fixable.”

Whenever the Warriors seemed like they were turning the tide in their favour during the game, the Raiders had an answer. The biggest one coming from 17-year-old forward Cole Fonstad, who scored his first of the game only 1:26 after Loschiavo got Moose Jaw on the board.

Fonstad, who played his midget AAA hockey in Moose Jaw, finished with two goals for the Raiders.

“We know they're a great team and we're coming in as the underdogs, so we wanted to come in and set the tone early and show what we're about and we did that well,” said Fonstad. “We played great all night, I didn't think we gave them too much and it was a great game by all the guys.”

Jordy Stallard shocked the Warriors' faithful in the first period, as the 20-year-old forward scored twice in the opening frame to give the Raiders the early lead.

Moose Jaw had a bit more jump in their step to start the second and looked like they were stealing momentum back when Burke found Loschiavo with a cross-ice pass to make it 2-1 just 5:53 into the second.

Fonstad answered back less than two minutes later and then he really quieted down Mosaic Place with his second of the game with 3:24 left in the second to make it a three-goal game going into the third.

Another former Moose Jaw General scored for the Raiders early in the third period when Regan Nagy beat Brody Willms just 6:35 into the period, chasing the Warriors' netminder from the goal after allowing five goals on 22 shots.

The Warriors found some life late and picked up goals from Tristyn DeRoose and Kale Clague in the final four minutes.

“When you have one goal through 56 minutes, it's not good enough for this group, it's not up to our capabilities or potential and we just have to live up to our potential and capabilities,” said Hunter. “Tomorrow night will be a different story, I know these guys are going to come out a lot harder and follow the game-plan from the get-go and not dip our toe in the water and see what the temperature is.”

One of the big match-ups coming into the series was going to be on special teams with both sides sporting top units during the regular season.  Moose Jaw finished the game 1-for-7 with the man advantage, including coming away empty handed during a 5-on-3 in the second. Prince Albert was 1-for-3 on the power play in the win.

Raiders 18-year-old goalie Ian Scott also won the battle between the pipes in the opening game as he turned away 35 shots in the victory.

Hunter said he expects Willms, like the rest of the team, to bounce back in Game 2, “Brody needs to fix his game as well, there’s no one exempt from the criticism here, we’re all in this together,” he said.

The Warriors and Raiders meet for Game 2 at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at Mosaic Place. The Pre-Game Show will be on the air at 6:40 p.m. on Country 100.

Tickets for the game are available at mjwarriors.ca.