PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Pats Eye 3-2 Series Lead In Saskatoon
Saskatoon, Sask. – The Regina Pats look to take a 3-2 series lead against the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night inside the SaskTel Centre for game five of this best-of-seven first-round series.
It’s been an interesting series to say the least, as the Pats have not trailed a single period despite it being a 2-2 set. The road team has won all of their contests so far in this series, boding well for the Pats heading into tonight’s road contest in Saskatoon.
The Blades evened up the series at two with back-to-back 4-3 overtime wins over the Pats inside the Brandt Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday, it was the Blades completing another comeback victory in overtime, edging the Pats 4-3 after coming back down 3-1 in the third period for the second consecutive night.
The Pats took a two goal lead in the opening minute of the third period, with Connor Bedard adding his second of the night seven seconds into the frame, and Tanner Howe scoring his first of the series. Bedard’s first of the game came in the final 40 seconds of the first, scoring on the power play to even the contest at one after 40 minutes of action.
Jake Chiasson scored the overtime winner for Saskatoon, while they also got goals from Egor Sidorov, Jayden Wiens and Charlie Wright. Ethan Chadwick got the win, making 23 saves. Drew Sim was saddled with the loss, stopping 33 of 37. The Blades finished the contest 1-3 on their power play while the Pats went 1-2 on their man-advantage.
Connor Bedard leads the post-season with eight goals and 13 points in just four contests, averaging 3.25 points per-game. Stanislav Svozil and Alexander Suzdalev have gathered at least a point in all four games, with both European-imports producing seven points this post-season. Riley Ginnell has quietly picked up five points (1G-4A) in four games in this series, too.
For the Blades, their top players have got hot in the last two contests of this series. After going scoreless through the first two games of the series, Egor Sidorov has scored in back-to-back games, and now has three goals and five points through four games this post-season.
Captain Aidan De La Gordendiere (5A) and forward Trevor Wong (4A) have gone scoreless so far, but have picked up a combined nine assists over their last two games, with seven of those on the power play, helping the Blades go 4-for-7 on their power play over their last two games after they were 0-for-6 on the power play to start the series.
HOW THE TEAMS MATCHUP
|
Saskatoon |
Regina |
|
| Team Record | 48-15-4-1 — 101 points | 34-30-3-1 — 72 points |
| Division Ranking | 2nd East | 4th East |
| Conference Ranking | 3rd Eastern | 6th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 5th | 11th |
| Past 10 Games | 8-2-0-0 | 3-6-1-0 |
| Streak | 2-0-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |
| Last Game | 6-3 W @ Moose Jaw (Mar 25 2023) Final | 5-3 L vs Prince Albert (Mar 25 2023) Final |
| Home Record | 25-6-3-0 | 18-15-0-1 |
| Away Record | 23-9-1-1 | 16-15-3-0 |
| GF | 257 | 262 |
| GA | 171 | 277 |
| PP (Overall) | (73/265) 27.5% | (65/243) 26.7% |
| PP (Home) | (40/138) 29.0% | (31/117) 26.5% |
| PP (Away) | (33/127) 26.0% | (34/126) 27.0% |
| PK (Overall) | (43/245) 82.4% | (65/283) 77.0% |
| PK (Home) | (22/124) 82.3% | (24/124) 80.6% |
| PK (Away) | (21/121) 82.6% | (41/159) 74.2% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (8/19) 42.1% | (4/18) 22.2% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (4/18) 77.8% | (8/19) 57.9% |
| Leading Rookie | Keller (13-17-30) | Suzdalev (38-48-86) |
| Most PIM | Lies – 82 | Vaughan – 78 |
| Team PIM/GM | 10.4/Game | 12.5/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Wong (27-59-86) | Bedard (71-72-143) |
| Sidorov (40-36-76) | Suzdalev (38-48-86) | |
| Lisowsky (38-33-71) | Howe (36-49-85) | |
| De La Gorgendiere (12-53-65) | Svozil (11-67-78) | |
| Roulette (24-39-63) | Valis (20-28-48) | |
| Last 5 Games | 6-3 W @ Moose Jaw (Mar 25 2023) Final | 5-3 L vs Prince Albert (Mar 25 2023) Final |
| 3-2 W vs Regina (Mar 24 2023) Final | 3-2 L @ Saskatoon (Mar 24 2023) Final | |
| 4-2 L vs Regina (Mar 19 2023) Final | 4-2 W @ Saskatoon (Mar 19 2023) Final | |
| 3-2 W vs Brandon (Mar 18 2023) Final | 7-3 W @ Moose Jaw (Mar 18 2023) Final | |
| 3-2 W @ Swift Current (Mar 15 2023) Final | 9-5 L vs Moose Jaw (Mar 17 2023) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 29-3-3-0 | 20-6-2-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 36-1-2-1 | 26-2-2-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 13-5-1-1 | 8-3-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 9-1-1-0 | 4-7-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 6-7-0-0 | 6-21-1-1 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 3-13-1-0 | 4-21-1-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 31-9-2-0 | 12-9-0-1 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 14-5-1-1 | 20-21-3-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 14-1-4-1 | 12-6-3-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 9-9-0-0 | 4-4-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 12-3-0-0 | 10-8-0-0 |
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
- Radio: 620ckrm.com
- Stream: WHL Live
- TV: AccessNowSports
REGULAR SEASON HEAD-TO-HEAD (2-4-0)
The Pats and Blades have played each other 34 times in playoff games, with Regina going 17-16-1 all-time (coming into this series). The Pats have won three of their six all-time series, while losing both round-robin games in 1986.
| Date | Road | Home | Time | Result |
| November 13th | Regina | Saskatoon | 4:00 p.m. CST | L, 5-2 |
| December 17th | Saskatoon | Regina | 7:00 p.m. CST | L, 6-1 |
| January 13th | Saskatoon | Regina | 7:00 p.m. CST | W, 7-4 |
| March 5th | Saskatoon | Regina | 4:00 p.m. CST | L, 5-2 |
| March 19th | Regina | Saskatoon | 4:00 p.m. CDT | W, 4-2 |
| March 24th | Regina | Saskatoon | 7:00 p.m. MDT | L, 3-2 |
It was the Saskatoon Blades ousting the Regina Pats 4-2 in the season series, outscoring the Pats 23-18 through six contests. On the flip side, the Pats went 2-2 in the second-half of the season against the Blades, while outscoring them 15-14 over their last four contests against Saskatoon.
REGULAR SEASON HEAD-TO-HEAD – INDIVIDUAL STATS
Saskatoon Blades
|
Regina Pats
|
HEADLINES
- Connor Bedard swept the WHL awards on Monday, being named the league’s Player of the Week after eight points (5G-3A) in two playoff games. He was also named the March Player of the Month, scoring 32 points (19G-13A) over his 13 regular season and playoff appearances.
- The Pats big three has produced in the post-season thus far, as Bedard leads the team in scoring with six goals and 11 points…right behind him is Alexander Suzdalev and Stanislav Svozil who have each recorded six points, with Svozil scoring in three straight games.
BY THE NUMBERS
143: Points (71G-72A) in 57 games for captain Connor Bedard led the WHL…since having his 35-game point-streak end on Feb. 3, he recorded 53 points (27G-26A) over his last 20 games, with points in 17 of those…this post-season, he’s gathered 11 points (6G-5A) in three games.
71: Goals in the 2022-23 season for Bedard led the WHL, while his 72 assists were tied for first…he also led the way in shots on goal (360), points per-game (2.51), goals per-game (1.24), and finished tied for first in game-winning-goals with 11.
86: Points this season (38G-48A) in 66 games this season for winger Alexander Suzdalev led all first year WHL players…he also led all rookies in goals (38), assists (48), points (86), power play goals (17), and power play assists (19), and tied for first in points per-game (1.30)…he’s also recorded six points (1G-5A) in three playoff games.
41: Number of points (6G-35A) in Stanislav Svozil’s final 28 games of the season (since coming back from the World Juniors on Jan. 13)…he finished first in power play assists (36), second in assists (67), second in points per-game (1.39), and third in points (78) in just 56 games.
85: Points this season (36G-49A) for second year forward Tanner Howe was tied for 13th in the WHL…the Prince Albert, Sask. product ended the regular season on a six game point-streak (4G-4A-8PTS) with goals in three straight contests.
COMING UP
| Game | Date | Away | Home | Time |
| 6 | Saturday, April 8 | Saskatoon | Regina | 7 p.m. MT |
| 7* | Monday, April 10 | Regina | Saskatoon | 7 p.m. MT |
*If Necessary
