The first 20 minutes proved to be the difference for the Home Hardware Midget AAA Legionnaires as they fell 2-1 to the visiting Moose Jaw Generals last night at Fairview West arena.

Swift Current dominated play early in the first, but it was Moose Jaw who emerged with both of their goals in the frame.

Zac Robins scored just under eight minutes into the game for the Generals on a power-play opportunity - something Moose Jaw had too many of in the game, according to Legionnaires head coach Darren Evjen.

"We took way too many penalties and that's all on us," he said. "That's an early lesson that we need to realize. If you take penalties, you're going to lose - that's the bottom line."

Swift Current had eight penalties in the game.

The Generals then closed out the first period with 12 seconds left on a Jaxsen Wiebe shot at even strength.

The Legionnaires got on the board in the second period when, with just over three minutes left, Jerzy Orchard found the back of the Generals' net on a back-hander.

However, that would be all, as Generals goalie Jake Davidson took care of business in the third, despite an offensive surge from the Legionnaires.

"Third period we put a heck of a push on to try and get the win, but we had a tough time scoring," Evjen said. "Their goaltender played very well tonight."

Davidson stopped 39 of the 40 shots he faced in the contest to record the win for Moose Jaw.

In net for the Legionnaires, Steven Duchscher stopped 30 shots in what has been a strong start through the first two games of the season for Legionnaires goaltenders.

Up next, The Home Hardware Midget AAA Legionnaires are on the road against Tisdale and Prince Albert for a pair of games in Warman.