PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Game 7 Tonight In Saskatoon
Saskatoon, Sask. – The Regina Pats take on the Saskatoon Blades in a do-or-die game seven on Monday at 7:00 p.m., inside the SaskTel Centre.
The Pats are coming off a gutsy 5-3 victory on Saturday at home over the Blades in game six to force a deciding game seven. If they grab the series win, they will advance to the second round for the first time since 2017. If the Blades win, they will advance to the second round for the for the first time since 2019. The Blades lost in five games to the Moose Jaw Warriors last year.
In the Pats victory on Saturday, they trailed 1-0 early in the first before scoring three unanswered goals to take 3-1 lead in the second. It was another deja vu moment for the Pats as Trevor Wong scored twice to tie the game at three. Early in the third, Connor Bedard would break the deadlock. Zack Shantz’ second of the series gave the Pats a 5-3 lead in the third which put the icing on the cake.
Bedard finished with four points (1G-3A) giving him 19 points in six games this post-season. Meanwhile, Alexander Suzdalev broke out with a two goal performance while Tanner Howe and Shantz added singles. Drew Sim made 27 saves and Stanislav Svozil tallied three assists.
Wong’s two goal performance on Saturday were his first two goals of the series. Jayden Wiens scored his fourth goal of the series and Ethan Chadwick made 15 saves in the loss.
The last time the Pats competed in a game seven was in the opening round of the 2018 post-season, with Swift Current defeating Regina 3-2 in game seven. The Pats also went to seven games and won in the 2017 second round of the playoffs, coming back from a 3-1 series deficit against Swift Current. The last time the Blades played a game seven was the opening round of the 2009 post-season where they lost to Lethbridge.
Outside of Bedard’s insane post-season, Alexander Suzdalev and Stanislav Svozil have also been standouts for Regina. Both are tied with 11 points this series, as each have gathered at least a point in all six games in the playoffs. For the Blades, Egor Sidorov and Trevor won are tied for first on their club in scoring with eight points each. Sidorov’s five goals lead the team while Aiden De La Gorgendiere’s seven helpers are first on Saskatoon’s playoff roster.
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
|
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 19 points (10G-9A) in six 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.
