The Central Plains Capitals fought hard in their first game of the regular season against the Yellowhead Chiefs but came up short in a 3-1 loss.

The Caps were coming off a two-week layoff and just couldn't find their swagger and sharpness around the net, which ultimately cost them the loss.

"We had some real good chances to tie it and we didn't score. I thought we were a little rusty and we hadn't played for the last two weeks. We started slow but got better each period," said Blaine Boyle, head coach for the Caps.

The Caps and Chiefs were tied neck and neck after the first period as both teams looked for the opportunities to snatch the lead.

With less than five minutes in the second period, the Chiefs got their first goal of the game to up on the Caps.

Heading into the third period, the Caps finally made good on a scoring chance to tie the game at one. However, the Chiefs came back to score one late and add an empty netter en route to the 3-1 win for them.

Still, the Caps had a myriad of chances to score and probably should have done better on a few chances, said Boyle.

"We outshot them pretty badly in the third but we weren't sharp around the net. We hit a couple crossbars and could have had a chance to win the game but overall, the game got better as it went so that was encouraging," said Boyle.

What's more the Caps played just three offensive lines, a sign that they're already battling some injuries early on.

"We only played three lines because we have three guys injured up front so I think they got into the momentum of the game as it went on," said Boyle.

What they lacked for in offence, they made up for in defence, as Boyle said he's happy with how the D-line played on Saturday.

The Caps will face-off against the Winnipeg Wild on Sunday at the PCU Centre. The puck drops at 3:00 p.m.

jordan.maxwell@sunmedia.ca