PREVIEW: Pats End Five Game Road Swing In Saskatoon
Regina, Sask. – The Regina Pats (23-29-3-2) finish up their five game road swing on Friday at 7:00 p.m., against the Saskatoon Blades (33-22-3-1) inside the SaskTel Centre.
The Pats have dropped their last two games, as they are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Swift Current Broncos on Tuesday. The Pats tied the game three times, but gave up the game-winning goal with under three minutes to play in the third, falling to 3-2 against the Broncos in the season series.
Connor Bedard scored twice and added an assist for a three point game, as he now sits with 43 goals and 83 points. That also extended his point-streak to 21 consecutive games, which is the longest in the WHL and one back of the Pats record (in internet era since 1996-97) of 22 games, which is held by Adam Brooks and Blake Evans. Cole Dubinsky also tallied two assists to extend his point-streak to six games while Tanner Howe recorded his 25th of the season.
The final shots were 36-19 for the Pats, as they gave up less than 20 shots in a contest for the third time this season. The Pats went 2-for-2 on the power play but just 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Saskatoon Blades are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg ICE on Wednesday, as they have now lost two in a row and four of their last five games, having been outscored 17-to-10 over that time. The Blades have nine games left in their regular season schedule, with five at home and four on the road. They have reached the 70+ point mark for the fourth time in five seasons.
They are led by former Pat’ Tristen Robins and Kyle Crnkovic who are both in the top 15 in WHL scoring. Robins is tied for 11th in points with 73 points (31G-42A) while Kyle Crnkovic is third in points (88) and assists (53) and tied for sixth in goals (35).
MATCH UP
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Regina |
Saskatoon |
|
| Team Record | 23-29-3-2 — 51 points | 33-22-3-1 — 70 points |
| Division Ranking | 6th East | 3rd East |
| Conference Ranking | 10th Eastern | 5th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 16th | 10th |
| Past 10 Games | 4-3-2-1 | 5-4-1-0 |
| Streak | 0-2-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |
| Last Game | 5-3 L @ Swift Current (Mar 22 2022) Final | 4-2 L vs Winnipeg (Mar 23 2022) Final |
| Home Record | 15-12-1-1 | 17-9-2-1 |
| Away Record | 8-17-2-1 | 16-13-1-0 |
| GF | 208 | 200 |
| GA | 228 | 196 |
| PP (Overall) | (57/227) 25.1% | (66/244) 27.0% |
| PP (Home) | (34/119) 28.6% | (33/124) 26.6% |
| PP (Away) | (23/108) 21.3% | (33/120) 27.5% |
| PK (Overall) | (71/243) 70.8% | (40/201) 80.1% |
| PK (Home) | (35/115) 69.6% | (20/94) 78.7% |
| PK (Away) | (36/128) 71.9% | (20/107) 81.3% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (1/9) 11.1% | (8/20) 40% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (8/20) 60% | (1/9) 88.9% |
| Leading Rookie | Howe (25-34-59) | Sidorov (17-11-28) |
| Most PIM | Evans – 89 | Rhinehart – 80 |
| Team PIM/GM | 13.2/Game | 8.8/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Bedard (43-40-83) | Crnkovic (35-53-88) |
| Howe (25-34-59) | Robins (31-42-73) | |
| Evans (13-42-55) | Lisowsky (32-23-55) | |
| Dubinsky (18-23-41) | De La Gorgendiere (4-41-45) | |
| Svozil (10-30-40) | Wiens (19-22-41) | |
| Last 5 Games | 5-3 L @ Swift Current (Mar 22 2022) Final | 4-2 L vs Winnipeg (Mar 23 2022) Final |
| 10-4 L @ Moose Jaw (Mar 19 2022) Final | 4-1 L @ Prince Albert (Mar 19 2022) Final | |
| 6-4 W @ Lethbridge (Mar 16 2022) Final | 5-3 W @ Edmonton (Mar 16 2022) Final | |
| 5-4 L @ Medicine Hat (Mar 15 2022) Final SO | 5-2 L @ Red Deer (Mar 15 2022) Final | |
| 4-1 W vs Calgary (Mar 12 2022) Final | 1-0 L vs Prince Albert (Mar 12 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 13-3-2-0 | 22-2-1-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 20-1-1-1 | 23-1-2-1 |
| Tied After 1st | 8-7-0-0 | 8-8-1-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 2-6-1-0 | 6-5-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 2-19-1-2 | 3-12-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 1-22-1-1 | 4-16-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 15-13-2-2 | 11-5-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 8-13-1-0 | 20-16-1-1 |
| 1 Goal Games | 8-8-3-2 | 9-3-3-1 |
| 2 Goal Games | 5-8-0-0 | 8-3-0-0 |
| 3 Goal Games | 4-9-0-0 | 8-9-0-0 |
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
- Radio: 620ckrm.com
- Stream: WHL Live
On the Air: Today Dante De Caria and Connor Hobbs have the call at the SaskTel Centre. Pre-game show coverage starts at 6:35, with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m., Central Time on WHL Live, 620 CKRM, 620ckrm.com and the TuneIn app.
2021-22 HEAD TO HEAD (0-4)
This will mark the fifth of six meetings this season. The Pats are 206-210-27-12-6 vs. the Blades, all-time.
| Date | Away | Home | Time | Result |
| October 22nd | Saskatoon | Regina | 7:00 p.m. MDT | L, 5-2 |
| October 24th | Regina | Saskatoon | 4:00 p.m. MDT | L, 4-1 |
| February 2nd | Saskatoon | Regina | 7:00 p.m. CST | L, 5-4 |
| February 12th | Regina | Saskatoon | 7:00 p.m. CST | L, 6-2 |
| March 25th | Regina | Saskatoon | 7:00 p.m. CDT | |
| March 30th | Saskatoon | Regina | 7:00 p.m. CDT |
The Pats trail the season series 4-0, having been outscored by the Blades 20-to-9 during that time. The Blades have scored four or more in all four contests this season. These two teams wrap up their season series on Wednesday in Regina with the sixth of six meetings. Saskatoon is 10-1-2 over their last 13 meetings against the Pats, dating back to the start of the 2019-20 season.
REG VS. SAS (INDIVIDUAL)
Saskatoon Blades
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Regina Pats
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HEADLINES
- Connor Bedard extended his point-streak to 21 straight on Tuesday at SC (23G-22A-45PTS), which is the longest point-streak in the WHL, passing Logan Stankoven (KAM, 19 games). The longest Pats streak since 1996-97 is held by Adam Brooks and Blake Evans (22 games).
- Bedard is also chasing both the Pats points and goals record by a 16-year-old…he is three goals away from passing Jeff Friesen’s record for goals as a 16-year-old (1992-93, 45G) and six points away from beating Doug Wickenheiser’s point record by a 16-year-old (1977-78, 88PTS)
- Zack Stringer returns from an upper body injury that had him sidelined for just one game. The Pats have also called up goaltender Kelton Pyne from the Regina Pat’ Canadians.
- The Pats are four points out of the eighth seed for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings. They are battling with Calgary, Prince Albert, and Swift Current for that final spot. The Pats have 11 games left in the season, with five at home and six on the road. In April, they will play Winnipeg (3x), Prince Albert (2x), Brandon, Swift Current and Moose Jaw.
BY THE NUMBERS
25: Amount of points (9G-16A) over Tanner Howe’s last 18 games with points in 16 of those 18, and goals in eight of those games, while also being a +9 over that span…he is 1st among all rookies in SH% (25.5%), 3rd in power play points (23) 3rd in points (59), & 4th in assists (34).
68: Points (33G-35A) over Connor Bedard’s last 31 games since Nov. 28, with points in 30 of those 31 contests, after he had 15 points (10G-5A) in his first 20 games this season…he is 1st in the WHL in shots (273), avg 5.3 shots per game…his also 2nd in goals (43) & 4th in points (83).
21: Number of points for forward Cole Dubinsky over his last 18 games (8G-13A) since January 29th, with points in 13 of those 18 contests…he had his five game goal-streak snapped on Tuesday, but extended his point-streak to six games with two assists (5G-6A-11PTS).
14-8-2: Record for the Pats when forward Zack Stringer is in the lineup this season, with the Pats going 12-1-2 over their last 15 games with Stringer playing…he has missed 33 games this season, going 9-21-3 without him in the lineup.
58.8: Penalty kill percentage in the month of March, going 20-for-34, giving up 14 power play goals against in nine games, in which the club has gone 4-3-2 this month…32% of the Pats goals against in March have been while short-handed, allowing 29 even strength goals.
228: Total goals against this season is the fifth highest in the WHL, behind Tri-City (17-37-5), Medicine Hat (11-43-4), Spokane (19-35-6) & Victoria (21-34-6, averaging 4.00 goals against per-game which is the fifth highest…on the other hand, they’ve scored 208 goals, which is 10th.
COMING UP
- 7:00 p.m., Saturday, Mar 26 – Brandon Wheat Kings (28-24-5) at Regina Pats (23-29-5)
- 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, Mar 30 – Saskatoon Blades (33-22-4) at Regina Pats (23-29-5)
- 7:00 p.m., Friday, April 1st – Winnipeg ICE (44-9-5) at Regina Pats (23-29-5)
- 7:00 p.m., Saturday, April 2nd – Regina Pats (23-29-5) at Prince Albert Raiders (24-29-5)
The Pats next home game is Saturday, March 26 against the Brandon Wheat Kings. For tickets, click here.
