RECAP: Pats Great Start Not Enough In 7-5 Loss To Wheat Kings
Brandon, Man. – The Brandon Wheat Kings squeaked out a 7-5 win over the Regina Pats on Saturday afternoon inside Westoba Place.
The Pats let a 4-2 lead slip away from them in the second period after a solid start to the contest where the group led 2-1 after one. With the contest tied up 4-4 after two, the Wheat Kings scored two straight goals in the third to go up by two, at 6-4.
Tanner Howe (1G-2A) and Parker Berge (1G-1A) would lead the charge offensively with multi-point efforts. Zackary Shantz, Jaxsin Vaughan and Keagan Slaney also scored for the Pats in the loss, while Kelton Pyne made 43 saves.
Roger McQueen led the way for Brandon with four points (2G-2A). Brett Hyland scored twice, Rylen Roersma tallied two goals and Caleb Hadland added a single tally, snapping their three game losing-streak. Carson Bjarnason made 27 saves in the victory for the Wheat Kings, as they also grab their first win of the season against the Pats.
THEY SAID IT
“I thought we started pretty well tonight, jumping out to that two goal lead. In that first period our backend was chipping in for some offence and we were off to the races. A little bit of wind was taken out of our sails and we got into some penalty trouble, and that allowed Brandon to claw back in. Unfortunately we weren’t able to outscore our problems as the game went on.” – Assistant Coach Evan McFeeters
FULL POST-GAME INTERVIEW WITH EVAN MCFEETERS
FINAL SCORE: Wheat Kings 7, Pats 5
Click for the Official WHL Box Score
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0 Wheat Kings at 3:46 – Rylen Roersma (6), assisted by Nate Danielson & Kayden Sadhra-Kang // The Wheat Kings entered the Pats zone with numbers and Roersma fired a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that beat Pyne to his glove hand to give the Wheat Kings an early 1-0 lead.
1-1 Pats at 5:27 – Keagan Slaney (1), assisted by Tanner Howe & Zanr Rowan // Howe attempted a wraparound but was denied. Slaney pinched from the point and was able to jam the puck under Bjarnason’s right pad to tie the game up at 1-1.
2-1 Pats at 18:34 – Parker Berge (5), assisted by Matteo Michels // Michels won a board battle along the left wing side in the Wheat Kings zone and he sent a cross-ice pass to a pinching Berge where he forced a one-timer past Bjarnason to give the Pats the lead late in the first period.
Second Period
3-1 Pats at 1:10 – Jaxsin Vaughan (3), assisted by Tanner Howe (SH) // Vaughan was sprung on a breakaway from near the centre ice red line, and he went in alone, made no mistake, and buried his third of the season to put the Pats up 3-1.
3-2 Wheat Kings at 5:45 – Brett Hyland (9), assisted by Roger McQueen & Quinn Mantei (PP) // Pyne stopped the original efforts but could not stop them all as Hyland tucked the puck past Pyne to pull the Wheat Kings to within one at 3-2.
4-2 Pats at 6:16 – Zackary Shantz (4), unassisted // The Wheat Kings played hot potato with the puck in their zone and Shantz was the recipient of a loose puck as he got in behind the defence and he buried it to give the Pats a 4-2 lead.
4-3 Wheat Kings at 7:47 – Caleb Hadland (5), assisted by Nate Danielson // The Wheat Kings entered the Pats zone with speed, Danielson dropped a past to Hadland who let a shot go that eluded Pyne to pull the Wheat Kings to within one at 4-3.
4-4 Wheat Kings at 11:30 – Roger McQueen (11), assisted by Dominik Petr & Rylen Roersma // A short three-on-one ended up in the back of the net as McQueen finished off the tic-tac-toe passing play to tie the game up at 4-4.
Third Period
5-4 Wheat Kings at 2:30 – Roger McQueen (12), assisted by Dominik Petr & Quinn Mantei (PP) // McQueen got behind the Pats defence and was standing at the edge of the blue paint and he received a centering pass, and tipped it into the open cage to give the Wheat Kings a 5-4 lead.
6-4 Wheat Kings at 13:16 – Brett Hyland (10), unassisted (PP) // The Pats won the defensive zone face-off in front of their net, but Hyland found a bouncing puck and tucked it in past Pyne to give the Wheat Kings their first two-goal lead of the contest at 6-4.
6-5 Pats at 18:42 – Tanner Howe (11), assisted by Parker Berge & Borya Valis (PP) // Berge’s long-range shot is kicked out by Bjarnsason but right to Howe who fired it over an outstretched Wheat Kings goalie to pull the Pats to within one at 6-5.
7-5 Wheat Kings at 19:00 – Rylen Roersma (7), assisted by Roger McQueen (EN) // Roersma seals the game with an empty net goal late.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 13-8-9-30 | Brandon – 16-19-15-50
PP: Regina – 1/4 | Brandon – 3/6
Face-offs: Regina – 34 | Brandon – 40
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Kelton Pyne ( 43 saves / 49 shots)
Brandon: Carson Bjarnason ( 25 saves / 30 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Roger McQueen – Wheat Kings (2G-1A)
Second: Tanner Howe – Pats (1G-2A)
Third: Brett Hyland – Wheat Kings (2G)
JUST NOTES
- 20-year-old defenceman Keagan Slaney notched his first goal in a Pats uniform, it was the 11th of his WHL career.
- Tanner Howe has points in two of his last three games (2G-2A)
- Zane Rowan has points in two of his last three games (1G-1A).
- Jaxsin Vaughan scored his third goal of the season. He has goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
- Parker Berge continues to add to his career-high goal-scoring with his fifth marker of the season. He added an assist later in the game for a multi-point game. He’s now collected 16 points (3G-13A) in his last 12 games.
- Zackary Shantz scored his fourth of the season and first in six games.
- Borya Valis has five points (2G-3A) over his last three games.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Pats face the Brandon Wheat Kings in the return match of the weekend home-and-home on Sunday, November 12 at 4:00 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.
Tomorrow will also be Connor Bedard Bobblehead Night, presented by Westridge Construction.
The exclusive Connor Bedard Bobblehead will go on sale when the doors open at the Brandt Centre at 3pm on Sunday, November 12. Bobbleheads will be sold for $10.00 on the Northeast side of the concourse. Sales will be limited to one bobblehead per person and there is a limited quantity, so be sure to get to the Brandt Centre early.
Get your tickets here.
