RECAP: Blades best Pats 7-3
REGINA – Looking for their first win streak inside the WHL’s East Division Hub, the Regina Pats skated off Brandt Centre ice Friday on the wrong end of a 7-3 score against the Saskatoon Blades.
After earning a well-rounded 5-3 victory a night earlier against the Prince Albert Raiders, the Pats fell behind 4-1 to the Blades after 20 minutes and couldn’t claw their way back against the first-place Blades.
“I think we came out a little bit flat. We kind of got off our game plan early, which we need to address and work on moving forward,” explained Pats captain Logan Nijhoff, who had a goal and an assist. “I think it’s just the little details we need to touch up on. We’ve been in these games I think. We’re right there, we just need to stick to it and everyone needs to bring just a little bit more.”
Paced by a pair of goals from Colton Dach and a four-assist night from Aidan De La Gorgendiere, the Blades improved on their franchise-best start, improving their record to 7-1-0-0, while the Pats fell to 2-4-2-0.
Speaking of hot starts, Connor Bedard continued his point-streak to start his WHL career, scoring his sixth of the season to improve his season point total to 13 in eight games.
Carter Chorney chipped in with the other Regina goal on a night the Pats were outshot 47-27. Spencer Welke stopped 40 shots in his season debut.
“I know that Spencer would like to have a couple of them back,” Struch admitted.
“We did have a lot of energy to come back and put ourselves in a position to climb in, get even, and maybe get ahead. We thought we played pretty well in the second,” added Struch, whose team made it 4-3 in the second period before three unanswered by the Blades.
Regina will look to regain their form against Prince Albert when the hit the ice next against the Swift Current Broncos on Monday night at 8 p.m.
“We had a big high yesterday – a lot of firsts for a lot of the young guys, so there’s lots of excitement and that kind of stuff from yesterday, and then they come out today and it becomes a little bit difficult,” Regina head coach Dave Struch said, referencing milestones like Jacob Dewitt’s WHL debut, and first career goals from Braxton Whitehead and Layton Feist against Prince Albert.
“Those are experiences they have to go through. It’s not getting too high, it’s not getting too low over the course of wins and losses that you have to maintain as an individual.”
