RECAP: Pats Make Strong Comeback But Fall Short To Blades
Regina, Sask. – The Regina Pats had a strong third period, but their comeback fell short in a 6-4 loss to the Saskatoon Blades on Friday inside the Brandt Centre.
The Pats opened the scoring early in the first and were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes of play, but fell behind 5-2 after two periods. Trailing 3-1 in the second period, the Pats got back within one, as Zane Rowan tucked off a beautiful backhander to get the Pats back in it. The Blades would add two more before the end of the second to take a 5-2 lead into the second intermission.
In the third, the Pats finished strong despite being on the losing end, as Anthony Wilson and Zach Moore scored their first in a Pats uniform to bring the group within one at 5-4 in the third.
The Pats got goals from four different players on Friday. Jaxsin Vaughan opened the scoring early in the first, while Rowan, Wilson and Moore rounded out the scoring. Kelton Pyne made 37 saves in the loss and Tyson Buczkowski had two assists.
Trevor Wong led the way for Saskatoon with a four point game (2G-2A). Egor Sidorov, Brandon Lisowsky, Vaughn Watterodt and Ben Saunderson rounded out the scoring. Austin Elliott stopped 23 shots in the Blades victory as they have now recorded a point in 14 straight games.
POST-GAME SHOW INTERIVEW WITH ASST. COACH EVAN MCFEETERS
FINAL SCORE: Blades 6, Pats 4
Click for the Official WHL Box Score
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0 Pats at 1:17 – Jaxsin Vaughan (9), assisted by Tyson Buczkowski & Cole Temple // Temple won an offensive zone face-off back to Buczkowski who fired a slapshot that was blocked in front of the Blades net but Vaughan was there and fired the puck past Elliott to give the Pats a 1-0 lead early in the first period.
1-1 Blades at 12:09 – Egor Sidorv (34), assisted by Trevor Wong // Sidorov got in close on Pyne, went behind his back, and beat the Pats goalie to tie the game at 1-1.
Second Period
2-1 Blades at 1:33 – Vaughn Watterodt (5), assisted by Tyler Parr // Parr won the offensive zone face-off forward and got the puck to the front of the Pats net where Watterodt tipped it past Pyne to give the Blades a 2-1 lead early in the second period.
3-1 Blades at 6:21 – Brandon Lisowsky (20), assisted by Grayden Siepmann (PP) // The Blades controlled the puck in the Pats zone on the powerplay, and Siepmann’s shot was stopped in front, but Lisowsky found the rebound and put it past Pyne to give the Blades a 3-1 lead.
3-2 Pats at 10:21 – Zane Rowan (3), assisted by Harper Lolacher & Corban Almen // Almen helped spring the Pats on a rush and got a pass to Lolacher who was able to feed the puck to Rowan who got it close and deked Elliott and tucked home his third of the season to pull the Pats wo within one at 3-2.
4-2 Blades at 15:41 – Ben Saunderson (4), assisted by Trevor Wong & Player // Wong sent a cross-ice saucer pass to Saunderson who finished off the play to restore the Blades’ two-goal lead at 4-2.
5-2 Blades at 19:34 – Trevor Wong (10), assisted by Tyler Parr (SH) // A turnover led to a clear-cut breakaway for Wong who went in alone and beat Pyne five-hole to extend their lead to 5-2 late in the second period.
Third Period
5-3 Pats at 3:27 – Anthony Wilson (3), assisted by Sam Oremba // Oremba carried the puck into the Blades zone leading a Pats rush, he sent a pass to a crashing Wilson who tipped the puck past Elliott to pull the Pats to within a pair at 5-3.
5-4 Pats at 10:44 – Zach Moore (2), unassisted // Moore led a two-on-one and instead of passing he fired a puck past Elliott to pull the Pats to within one at 5-4.
6-4 Blades at 19:24 – Trevor Wong (11), unassisted (EN) // Wong picked the pocket of a Pats defender and hit the empty net to seal the game at 6-4.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 7-11-9–27 | Saskatoon – 15-19-9–43
PP: Saskatoon – 0/3 | Saskatoon 1/3
Face-offs: Regina – 35 | Saskatoon – 35
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Kelton Pyne ( 37 saves / 42 shots)
Saskatoon: Austin Elliott ( 23 saves / 27 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Trevor Wong – Blades (2G-2A)
Second: Anthony Wilson – Pats (1G)
Third: Zach Moore – Pats (1G)
JUST NOTES
- 2005-born defenceman Samuel Barcik became the 1,265th skater (1,433rd player) to play a regular season or playoff game in Pats’ franchise history.
- Tyson Buzkowski collected his first point in his second game as a Pat on Regina’s first goal.
- Cole Temple collected his first point since November 17 (11 games) with an assist on the Pats’ first goal.
- Jaxsin Vaughan scored and has two goals in his last three games. He has five goals over his last 10 games.
- Zane Rowan has two goals in his last four games.
- Harper Lolacher picked up his first point as a Pat (three games)
- Corban Almen picked up his first point in 12 games with an assist (his last point was on November 3).
- Sam Oremba picked up an assist and now has 13 points (4G-9A) in his last 11 games.
- Anthony Wilson scored his first goal in a Pats uniform which was his first in 22 games (last was October 14 when he was with Brandon).
- The Pats have dropped their last seven games, with four of those seven games going to overtime. During that stretch, six of their last seven have been decided by two goals or less.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Pats continue their six-game homestand tomorrow night, Saturday, January 6th with a matchup against the Victoria Royals with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop at the Brandt Centre. Grab your tickets here.
