RECAP: Pats Pick Up Crucial Two Points Versus Hitmen
Calgary, Alta. – The Regina Pats received goals from five different players and 38 saves from Ewan Huet in a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday inside the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Tanner Howe led the way up front with three points (1G-2A) while Zach Moore (1G-1A), Sam Oremba (1G-1A) and Tye Spencer (2A) chipped in with multi-point games. Jaxsin Vaughan and Anthony Wilson rounded out the scoring and Ewan Huet grabbed his 10th win of the season, and second against the Hitmen, stopping 13 of 15 in the third period and 38 overall.
The Pats are now 19-26-4-2 with 44 points, and are currently five points back of the Hitmen for eighth in the East after tonight’s win, which was the Pats fifth road victory of the season. Regina is now 3-0 against Calgary this season with the final meeting set for February 19 at the Brandt Centre.
The Hitmen opened the scoring early in the first with a power play goal before allowing five straight goals by the Pats with four in the first and one in the second. The Pats led 5-1 after two before Calgary got two quick early goals in the third stanza to go down by two. Ben Kindel led the way with three assists for the Hitmen while Oliver Tulk, Keets Fawcett and Ethan Moore rounded out the scoring.
The Hitmen swapped goaltenders late in the second period, as Ethan Buenaventura allowed five goals on 21 shots in 34:04. Alex Garrett would relieve him and stopped all 13 shots that he faced.
POST-GAME SHOW INTERVIEW WITH ASST. COACH KEN SCHNEIDER
FINAL SCORE: Pats 5, Hitmen 3
Click for the Official WHL Box Score
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0 Hitmen at 3:13 – Oliver Tulk (27), assisted by Ben Kindel & Reese Hamilton (PP) // The Hitmen won an offensive zone face-off, Kindel got the puck on the right wing and sent a cross-ice seam pass to Tulk who one-timed it past Huet to make it 1-0 early.
1-1 Pats at 4:29 – Sam Oremba (16), assisted by Tanner Howe & Tye Spencer (PP) // The Pats carried the play in the offensive zone and Howe sent a pass from the right wing to the slot and Oremba tipped it home past Buenaventura to tie the game up at 1-1.
2-1 Pats at 12:35 – Anthony Wilson (5), assisted by Keagan Slaney & Tye Spencer // Wilson got the pass and skated in on his off-wing and beat Buenaventura short side with what appeared to be a no-look shot to give the Pats a 2-1 lead.
3-1 Pats at 13:48 – Tanner Howe (24), assisted by Braxton Whitehead & Zach Moore (PP) // Moore won the offensive zone faceoff to Howe who passed to Whitehead at the point who returned a pass to Howe and he one-timed it home to extend the Pats lead to 3-1 just over a minute after taking the lead.
4-1 Pats at 15:23 – Zach Moore (4), assisted by Sam Oremba & Tanner Howe (PP) // Oremba received a pass from Howe at the side of the Calgary net, and he sent a behind-the-back no-look pass to the front that Moore hammered home to extend the Pats lead to 4-1.
Second Period
5-1 Pats at 14:04 – Jaxsin Vaughan (11), unassisted // The Hitmen turned the puck over in the defensive zone and Vaughan fired a shot that eluded Buenaventura to extend the Pats’ lead to 5-1 midway through the middle period.
Third Period
5-2 Hitmen at 4:30 – Keets Fawcett (15), assisted by Ben Kindel // The Pats were denied at the Hitmen end of the ice and Fawcett was sprung on a breakaway and he beat Huet to pull the Hitmen back to within three at 5-2.
5-3 Hitmen at 5:30 – Ethan Moore (15), assisted by Ben Kindel // The Pats could not clear the puck and Moore finished off a pass with a one-timer past Huet to make it a 5-3 game.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 14-11-9–33 | Calgary – 9-17-15–41
PP: Regina – 3/7 | Calgary – 1/3
Face-offs: Regina – 34 | Calgary – 33
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Ewan Huet ( 38 saves / 41 shots)
Calgary: Ethan Buenaventura (16 saves / 21 shots in 34:04) & Alex Garrett (13 saves / 13 shots in 24:41)
THE 3 STARS
First: Tanner Howe – Pats (1G-2A)
Second: Ben Kindel – Hitmen (3A)
Third: Zach Moore – Pats (1G-1A)
JUST NOTES
- Tanner Howe had a trio of points (1G-2A) and has picked up 10 points (3G-7A) in his last nine games.
- Keagan Slaney has assists in back-to-back games.
- Sam Oremba had a goal and an assist on the night, giving him eight points in his last seven games (6G-2A). He’s now on a three-game goal streak.
- Jaxsin Vaughan scored his 11th of the season, which was his first in eight games.
- Tye Spencer picked up a pair of assists and has notched 12 points (6G-6A) in his last nine contests.
- Anthony Wilson scored his fifth of the season and now has points in back-to-back games (1G-1A).
- Zach Moore picked up his second one goal and one assist game in his last three contests, giving him four points (2G-2A) in his last three games.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Pats return home on Saturday, February 10th when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings when the Pats host Indigenous Celebration Night, score your tickets at reginapats.com.
